From time to time I’ve blogged about our friends J and M who live in Alabama. J is diabetic and Type A. He read the Health Library Diabetes book and followed it for a while, but eventually stopped. It was too hard for him to give up beef, potatoes, and fried foods. He has chosen to take medication to control his diabetes.

His brother, also a Type A diabetic and only in his late 50s, passed away a couple of weeks ago. The brother had heart failure that was a complication of the diabetes. J and M came to Texas for the funeral, and we got to see them several times.

The same week other friends arrived from Oklahoma. D is also diabetic. However he has taken the diagnosis very seriously. He has lost a lot of weight, and carefully watches what he eats.

These visits came just after my Honorable Husband got his lab work that for the first time shows his blood sugar just over the line. When he got the lab report, it didn’t have too much of an impact. The doctor just scribbled a little note saying, “Watch your diet.” It didn’t seem to HH to be that big of a deal. But J’s brother’s funeral and seeing two friends diagnosed with diabetes got his attention.

He asked both J and D a lot of questions. He asked me what the Blood Type Diet had to say about diabetes. I went online and bought the Heath Library Diabetes book. (Since the GenoType Diet book came out, there are some really good deals on some of the Health Library books. I’ve been adding to my collection.)

The book arrived and he is reading it! Not only that, he is discussing it with me. He has agreed that he wants to get his blood sugar down now, when it is just over the line. He already takes blood pressure and cholesterol medication. He does not want to add another daily med for diabetes.

I am thrilled to have him consciously on board, rather than a passive participant in the BTD. The first step has to weed out the non-compliant food that I have allowed in the house to keep him happy. He has grieved over ice cream. I’ve said, “If you keep your blood sugar under the line, you don’t have to say that you’ll never eat ice cream again. We just won’t have it in the house. But you could splurge a little when we are out with friends. However, if you let yourself develop full blown diabetes, that is when you have to give it up altogether.” The second step will be to enter the Diabetes food lists into our database.