Free writing exercise #1: balloon, sugar, impossible

Bob stared at the digital readout and let out a groan. His blood sugar came in at 510, not even close to being a good result. His doctor had expressed concern back when it was at 175. Since then, Bob had been a very uncompliant patient. He kept eating cookies for snacks all the freaking time, he drank like a sailor. He'd put on at least 40 pounds since he'd been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Might be more, but his scale at home only went up to 300.

His calves had both swollen markedly and his left foot had recently puffed up like a balloon - he could now only just barely get his shoe on. It seemed almost impossible that he'd be able to get his diabetes under control. Will power was gone ever since his wife and daughter had been killed in that freak accident with the gasoline truck.

I wrote this in response to a post by @jayna

https://steemit.com/writing/@jayna/writing-workshop-volume-1-the-beginning

Do this: Write for 10 minutes right now, without stopping, and incorporate these three words into your piece: balloon, sugar, impossible.

Unedited. Ten minutes yielded not much more than a snippet; I am not a fast writer. Also not very prolific. Both are growth areas.

Why does Bob groan in the first sentence, in that he seems to almost revel in his self-destruction? How might this snippet have been fleshed out? Would Bob "snap out of it" and take control of his diabetes? What was freakish about the accident?

Writing exercises can lead to many questions. Which can lead to more writing. And maybe to an actual story.

image: Pixabay