It’s not about the sugar. It’s about the role sugar can play in my life. Giving it way more importance than it deserves. Desiring it, even when it is harming me.
Days two through five went well, considering I quit all sugar completely. No grains. No fruit. And definitely no ice cream or cake or cookies. I’ll admit some crankiness. My husband would admit more. But overall, I noticed a reduction in inflammation, which is always a good thing.
Saturday evening came and so did a restaurant with few to no options that worked with a sugar fast. Grains were reintroduced. I felt fine. Slept soundly. No stomach issues.
Mother’s Day. 5:00 am came and I decided to sleep in.
6:15 am came and I didn’t feel just right. It woke me up. I have been dizzy before but this was a whole new level. I stood. Spinning. Made my way to the bathroom. Spinning. Opened window shades. Never have I ever seen the yard spin past me like that. Feeling a little nausea.
Decided to go back to bed. I couldn’t stop the spinning. With the spinning came more nausea.
Not sure if my body tried to panic and bring some tightness in my chest or what but I decided a trip to the emergency department was necessary. My husband tried to get me to the truck, unsuccessfully. I had to lay down.
So on the floor I went. I thought I was going to die. My poor sons and husband had to get all my final blessings with me prostrate on the floor. (You can laugh now since I am typing this. Although, my family didn’t think it was funny at the time.) They called an ambulance and waited while I explained all the important stuff in life. (Primarily their relationship with God and the fact that I love them.)
EKG, chest x-ray, blood tests all came back normal. Blood tests looked better than they did six years before. No explanation other than vertigo. Nothing points to any other explanation.
But let me be clear!
When someone tells you they have vertigo, pray for them. Offer to help them. If they are prone to motion sickness, get them a trash can to sit close by so they don’t have to move. Then, pray some more. Do not minimize this condition!
I don’t know if the sugar fast had anything to do with this little episode. But the sugar fast ended.
This week has looked a little different. The same old ordinary things have taken place. Work. Laundry. Dishes. Walks through the yard. Snipping dead flowers. Picking squash and strawberries and blackberries. Text messages. Phone calls. More work. But my perspective has been a little different.
I have been moving, intentionally, a little slower. I haven’t been racing against myself. I have been taking my time. Partly out of fear of the spinning. Mostly out of reverence for the life God has blessed me with.
Will I embark on another sugar fast? I can’t tell you that right now. Not today.
Today I will live and be content with what God gives me.
