Proud Wife

This is a short and sweet post today.  I just wanted to let anyone who reads my blog know how proud I am of my amazing husband.  He said from the first day that we were told he was a diabetic that he refuses to accept that fact.  This past week seems to be proving he is correct.  All his readings have been in the 90s.  Yes we are still eating right and will continue to do but it just amazes me how we were able to get this under control in just about three months time.  He has lost down one pant size, he feels great and is making great decisions on what he puts in his body.  I will confess that last night in honor of our son's birthday we did eat a cupcake (no icing) and this morning his blood sugar reading was only 112, not bad at all.

Things we aren't doing, using artificial sweeteners, drinking diet drinks, eating bread, consuming sugar (except natural sugar). 

I am proud of his determination to be healthy.  Keep up the great work honey!

We Did It: Weekend Out of Town & Maintained Healthy Eating

A couple of weeks ago we went to my mom's to celebrate her birthday and to enjoy a day at Dollywood with my sister-in-law and mother-in-law.  Who knows traveling and eating right can be difficult?  There is always the temptation to snack while in the car for hours and then stopping to eat fast food along the way.  Well we did pretty good.  We stopped for breakfast at McDonald's, that'r right, McDonald's.  We got the sausage burrito which had 26 carbs and 2 sugars, not too bad.  By the way, it's good to plan your eating stops prior to traveling.  You can look up the places you like to go and check their nutritional charts and see what the best items are for you to eat.  I admit, we did it on the fly checking on our cell phones in the car so either way works.  By the way, our snacking food of choice was a sesame stick, nut trail mix.

We arrived at Dollywood and had already decided the best place to eat at the amusement park would be Aunt Granny's which is a buffet.  You say buffet?  Yes.  The reason is because on a buffet you can get healthy greens, veggies and meat.  Which is what we did.  They had turkey breast, pork loin, fried chicken, catfish.  They had veggies that are not good such as mac n' cheese, potatoes, corn but they had collards (excellent choice by the way), green beans, salad, brussel sprouts and more.  We drank unsweet tea because a drink came with the lunch.  We had dinner at Long John Silvers, that's right another fast food place but fish is very good for you (they also now have baked cod).  We opted out of fries and my husband had green beans and I had the okra.

The next day we went to Pigeon Forge with my mom and her husband and we ate at the Apple Barn Farmhouse Restaurant.  There again we made wise decisions on what we ordered, well my husband did I didn't.  He had meatloaf, collards and pinto beans (which are another excellent choice).  I caved and ate creamed potatoes and turkey & dressing.  Overall though we did great and his blood glucose levels stayed low.

I do have to tell you a funny story about checking his levels this past week.  We had eaten dessert the night before so I was concerned that his level would be high.  I always check his blood because he says he can't "poke" himself.  When the meter showed his level I asked "Do you feel OK?  Your level is 66!"  He said I'm fine but I think you are looking at the meter wrong.  I had it upside down, it was 99.  But the important thing is by maintaining our healthy eating we have found that on occasion it is ok to share a dessert.

Diabetic Supplies & Insurance

So when we first saw our family physician they gave us a wonderful meter for free that came with test strips and lancets and then wrote a prescription for the like.  When I went to fill the prescription I was told that my hubby's insurance didn't cover the supplies for the meter that we were given.  So we get this free meter but now we are told we have to buy the one the insurance will cover or we will have to pay full price for the supplies for the meter the doctor gave us.  Just in case you haven't ever priced the supplies they are outrageously priced.

I checked with Bayer, the maker of the free meter we received and they did offer a co-pay card so that you could get test strips for $15 for a box of 100 without insurance or $15 for a box of 300 with insurance.  I took the little discount card to our pharmacist and they didn't have 100 pack test strips only a 50 count so I only received a discount.  I ended up having to pay $26 for 50.  It makes no sense to me at all.

What to do?  I guess I have no choice but fill the prescription for the brand the insurance will pay for so I can get supplies at an affordable price.  Let me hear from those who have had similar experiences.  What did you do?  Do you have any suggestions on getting the brand you want at an affordable price?

We were given the Bayer Contour EZ but our insurance covers the One Touch.  Let me hear from you.