The Fight Starts Now -- Save Your ChildThe Fight Starts Now —Save Your Child’s Life

Last night I had a dream about my first husband,Michael such a wonderful man.  I can honestly say that I’m a very fortunate woman to have met the two most perfect men in the world for me.  Michael was my first love.  He was my young love.  You know the kind that you can’t keep your hands off of because you fear losing them.  Well in his case,I feared losing him for six years as he fought his battle with diabetes. 

My dream got me to thinking that I should speak out against diabetes.  You see I got to see firsthand what happens to someone with diabetes and it’s not pretty.  Not at all.  Those six years before he passed away were bitter sweet.  There were moments that were so very precious.  Like the moments that he said he would have taken better care of himself if he had known that I was out there.  The love that we shared.  Michael at his top weight was only 148 lbs.  He was a little man.  He couldn’t gain weight.  If we were lucky,he would gain it for a week.  Then it simply dropped off.  (I wish I had that trait).

I watched this wonderful man who never said a bad thing about another human being slowly fade away.  I watched what diabetes does to a body.  I watched him lose his eyesight.  Can you imagine what it’s like to be able to see the world clearly and the next not to be able to see anything at all?  It happened to him.  You don’t know until it happens how precious those things are.  I was the last thing that he saw.  I will always be thankful for that.  He had looked into my eyes right before he went to sleep.  He woke up to never seeing again.  Oh we tried all kinds of surgeries to try and it gets it back.  It never worked. 

I watched as he lost his kidneys.  Both of them at once.  Well one of them we didn’t know about until he lost the second one.  Did you know that the body is such a splendid machine that it actually has one kidney that works and a spare kidney as a back up when it shuts down?  It’s true.  After he lost his kidneys,he began dialysis.  Three times a week.  Basically what it means is that you are hooked up to this machine that takes your blood out of your body and replaces it cleaned up.  You see when your kidneys quit working you need something to clean out all the toxins from your blood.  I watched him suffer through dialysis.  I know he suffered because every night after dialysis he would lie in front of the television and cry.  This proud man would cry.  I was the only one allowed to see that.  It still hurts to think of him in that much pain.

He began to lose the functions in his legs.  The circulation was so bad in his legs by this point.  He told me that he would pass away if he was put into a wheelchair.  He began to call himself “Herman the monster.”  I felt so bad for him but I was working most of the time to try and support him.  He did pass away within two days of them telling him that he would have to be in a wheelchair.  This man who lost his eyesight and his kidneys simply gave up when they said he wouldn’t be able to walk much more.

The other day I heard that parents were outliving their kids.  I was so sad to hear that fact.  How it is that today’s children are bigger and sicker than any other generations?  Read here for more information.  I’ve heard parents are becoming vegans to try and prevent this from happening.  There is an action called Vegan Action which is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping the animals,environment,and human health by educating the public about the benefits of a vegan lifestyle and encouraging the spread of vegan food options through our public outreach campaigns.  I’m not saying go vegan.  I’m just concerned about the kids of today.

My niece is 14 years old and she weighs over 200 lbs.  I worry about her constantly.  I am overweight but I’m an adult.  I know what it’s doing to my body.  I think it’s her mother’s responsibility to help her maintain her weight.  But her mother has the same problem.

Kids are now eating high-calorie diets yet they are doing little exercise.  These two traits are helping to shorten the lifespan of seriously obese children.  As a child,I don’t remember there being as many overweight kids are there are today.  In fact it was a rarity.  Back then,you were made fun of excessively if you were overweight.  Now it’s acceptable to be overweight because so many are.

The earlier that you develop diabetes which can be caused from eating the worse the disease is.  Take it from me;I know this for a fact.  What is happening to our kids?  I remember going outside and digging in the backyard for worms.  I don’t remember being inside the house much at all.  In fact,watching television was a treat for me.  No I did not grow up without televisions in the house.  I’m not that old.

Now what I’m asking you is to get your kids outside to play.  Doing activities such as:

• Let them ride their bikes. 
• Teach them some of those things you did as a child. 
• Catch fireflies with them. 
• If you have to have electronic games in the house make sure that they are interactive physically like Wii fit.
• Take them to a creek to explore the different habitats.
• Take them to the zoo.  Lots of walking there.
• Get them into organized sports
• Camp out with them.
• Go for a hike
• Take the kids to the dog park to play with the dogs
• Go fishing

The point is simply to get your kids active.  Let’s all be proactive in the fight for our kids life beginning today.  In the process we will get more fitter.