Not Everybody Is ASlacker

I just wanted to take a moment and tell you all what has happened to me in the past couple of years. It has been surreal.

See, I am diabetic, and have been trying very, very hard to lose weight. I mean, my gosh I am here on MyFitnessPal. I haven't always been faithful with it, but trust me I am a food Nazi, and a walker and dancer.

For example, in the past year, I got my insulin reduced from 40 units per meal down to 20, and now I'm on a "slide" of 6 units to 10 per meal. That's pretty amazing. They also reduced my long-acting by 10 units.

But there are people who aren't diabetic but think they know everything, and think they have the freedom to say something to diabetics if they put something in their mouth that they don't think they should have. Now granted, I have since gone gluten free and low sugar - I mean REALLY low sugar - as in I mostly eat Stevia and nothing else with much sugar in it at all except light yogurts because of what I'm about to tell you. But as a diabetic, it's almost impossible to eat a balanced diet and be completely sugar free. Sugar is in everything, from milk, (which I no longer drink) to fruit, (which is vital to a diabetic's diet).

Our last Pastor would ride my butt if I got something sweet from the breakfast area for Sunday School, and I had to explain to him - over and over - that they had us coming in at 9 in the morning for practice and we never had time for breakfast. In fact, when my husband was laid off, we didn't even HAVE breakfast on Sundays. We had nothing in our house that was breakfast-worthy. Yeah, I could have maybe had some plain toast. But anyways....I told him that unless he wanted to be calling 911 from me passing out on the stage, to lay off of me.

We eventually changed churches and there was this lady, and we were at a potluck, and I grabbed ONE.....one inch by one inch brownie for dessert - and she JUMPED MY CASE.

At the time, my belly was getting bigger....and bigger...and bigger. I could no longer wear my jeans and I was in a size 28. I guess that's why everybody felt the need to jump my case. I was getting exponentially bigger, and they all assumed that I was lying about my diet and exercise. They were constantly giving me unwanted advice.

It was irritating.

So eventually I started to look pregnant, and I gained 25 lbs in one semester of college, despite taking 4 dance classes a week at BalletMet here in Columbus and walking all over campus with a backpack all day. Which was NOT muscle gain, like some of them said. See, people DON'T know what they think they do. They're not doctors.

So I finally went to the doctor. The E/R actually, because we have no health insurance. They said I wasn't pregnant. That was a huge disappointment. But they DID say that the Cat Scan showed something called ascites, which is fluid in your abdomen. They sent me home scratching their heads and telling me to follow up with my doctor.

So my big belly was all WATER.

Long story short, I ended up finding out that I had stage 4B endometrial cancer. I have had five surgeries since January. One on my pinky which our son accidentally crushed in the van door, then the pericentesis which is where they drain out the fluid, then a D&C and biopsy, then a full hysterectomy via up/down incision with 33 staples, then a root canal.

And let me tell you all something.....

.....when they drained that fluid, they took out 9 liters. I was awake for the whole thing, and I watched them drain out 9 liters. 9 liters! That's like almost 3 gallons! It weighed 45 pounds. I have lost 5 more or so on my own since then, but I'm not supposed to lose a whole lot during chemo.

So you see, you never ever know what's going on with someone. You shouldn't judge and assume that if they're gaining weight, that they're lying or in denial. They might have a thyroid problem, a problem with their amygdala in their brain, or they might have cancer! You just - never know.