Stacie, sorry to hear about your DH's newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetes and his other GI issues. I am a nutritionist/registered dietitian and I work in an endocrine research clinic. It is indeed possible that his blood sugar can be in the 400's when undiagnosed, and his level will also be affected by infection and the stress of pain/illness. There are so many excellent oral diabetes meds these days. Lifestyle changes are the key (along with blood glucose monitoring at home and meds) to controlling diabetes. Your DH has a lot to live for and lots of motivation to make some changes. Even a 5-7% modest decrease in his body weight as he is overweight will make a big difference in improving his diabetes control. He does not need to give up sugar. He does need to start eating a much more healthy overall diet including veggies & fruits. One of the best resources for what people with diabetes should eat is the American Diabetes Association book "16 Myths of a Diabetic Diet" by Karen Chalmers. It's on Amazon.com for ~$12 plus shipping. I highly recommend this newly updated book. Your library may have it. Also, it would be good for him to attend somem diabetes management classes at a local hospital -- provided they are taught by a CDE (certified diabetes educator) who is up to date on the latest management/nutrition recommendations for people with diabetes. I'm sure he can do it with your help! So may people have diabetes, and it can be very successfully managed. Rose Here is a link that might be useful: 16 Myths of a Diabetic Diet

Hhireno--thanks for asking about DH. Almost seems like a lifetime ago that he had his surgery. So much has happened since March 5. DH is doing very well. He was discharged on March 11 and came home. I had taken so much time off from work during the previous two weeks that I ended up going into work the next day, leaving him home with our dog. Those first three days were extremely difficult not being home with him. I'm sorry I had to make that choice, but we made it through without any issues. When he was discharged they had him on an antibiotic for an infection at an IV site. Not a pretty sight. They only prescribed 5 days worth and it was not any better so I brought him to our local ER where they prescribed meds for another 5 days at twice the dosage. That did the trick. A week after being home he sneezed without his pillow and pulled a muscle in his chest, which caused him more pain than his chest incision. Thank goodness it was on his right side because he would have thought it was his heart giving him the pain. Only now that pain has finally gone away. We were scheduled to see the surgeon last Tuesday, however, received a call the previous day rescheduling to this Tuesday. Unfortunately I have a huge conference I'm running on Wednesday so cannot go with him. My DB has offered to drive him down, which I'm thankful for. Otherwise, he would have taken the bus, since he's not allowed to drive yet. Hopefully the surgeon will give him the green light on Tuesday and our lives will start getting back to something close to normal. We are scheduled to close on our current house and our new build home on May 15. Packing hasn't begun, but I've given myself until this Thursday and will start in earnest then. The past 3+ months have gone by so quickly. I can't believe we are leaving our home of the past 20 years and on to a new adventure. Just holding my breath that we make it to the other side.

I am so happy to hear about dh's gf...and so sad to hear the other story...when they are part of anothers lives for so long I can understand....I am still amazed the my ex's mom is still alive after losing her dh.....she is doing okay but I thought she would have just willed herself gone.....Stacy

My youngest boy (18) threw away all of the lighters and cigarettes on Thursday. Jim understood this morning that some of his lifestyle choices brought him to this place. He is a little overweight, drank too much caffeine and of course smoked. He knows he is done with all of that. They did give him some tea at dinner time but he asked for non-sweetened. He likes water so he will be ok with that. His worst habit is those darn energy drinks- RedBull and such. No more! He will have to eat more fruit and veggies of course. We eat pretty healthy most of the time. Very very little fast food and he does not drink soda at all. I think the worst will be the smoking, but since I quit already maybe it won't be so bad. Both boys came with me today. The youngest had a real hard time. He broke down after the first visit. He did a little better after the 2nd one, but I ended up sending him home. No use in upsetting both him and DH. He wants to go back tomorrow and try again. My oldest boy (21) did better but even he had some tears. I did better and of course just talking to him and having him talk back was golden for me. We have a long road ahead but as long as we are walking it together I am good with that! Trish