Diabetic mom refuses to eat right

Dear Pastor,

I have been having issues for a long time. I have a diabetic mother who is very stubborn. She is always asking for food that is not healthy for her.

When she does not have her own way, she makes a lot of noise in the house and tends to refuse the food given to her.

When she is supposed to be sleeping, she wakes up asking for food, and she says that she is not getting enough to eat and gives the impression that she is not being fed.

I am asking for your advice because she has been behaving like this for a while now and she is not listening to anyone.

J.

Dear J.,

I am sure that your mother's attitude is frustrating you and causing you much concern in the home. I do not believe that you would starve your mother, but it is not unusual for diabetics to disobey their doctors and to eat and drink whatever they feel like.

Some caregivers become very annoyed and give up on them. I doubt that you want to give up on your mother, and she is behaving like she is not thankful for your efforts to have her eat right.

It was not long ago that a gentleman complained to me about his mother, who is also diabetic. She has been warned by her doctor not to eat certain foods, but she continues to eat and drink whatever she likes.

Please ask her doctor to speak to her again for you. Tell him exactly what she is doing.

I'll tell you a short story. I was at the home of one of my colleagues, and his mother-in-law was there. She was a very lovely woman. When the dinner was served, she was eating what was on the table and as she served herself, she said "Doctor says I shouldn't eat this".

But she loaded her plate anyway and ate what everybody ate. I have never forgotten that. I am not a medical doctor, but I suppose that many more people would be alive today if they had just followed their doctors' advice.

Don't give up on your mother. I pray that she will change. Perhaps you should ask her pastor to come by and have a little talk with her.

Pastor