Personally, I've spent so much time trying to "filter" what I say regarding diabetes, to soften the severity or blatancy of my thoughts/opinions/feelings. I've even spent time trying to convince myself of certain things about diabetes.
So what's the most honest thing you can say about diabetes? Or your most honest opinion of it?
Good Question! The best thing I can say is that it has helped me to meet thousands of people that I normal would not have met otherwise. The worst: It really gets in the way of life sometimes especially when you are pregnant!!
Gina - I thought your "worst" was also going to be "met thousands of people you'd not have had to contend with otherwise..." :D
Great question - I think it's brought out the best and worst in me. A few of my irresponsible moments have certainly gained a bitter-highlight with the D added in (wandering into a store and eating food off the shelves in a severe low after a school event when i was a kid) - Being able to keep up with both my boys through a JDRF zoo walk, run some hills, be crazy and kept it between the lines (no highs/lows) the entire day... Bitter sadness when one of my children play-treats blood sugar issues I pray they'll never have... I guess my honest opinion is it has been a great learning experience and I'd love to have missed it but grateful for the way it has shaped me in some strange complicated, tangled way...
Thanks for the minutes of introspection, Alyssa! :)
My most honest opinion about D is "it's life for me." I don't like the blood tests, the getting blood taken out of my arm several times a year when I go to the doctor, having to always be concerned about it, etc. But it's life for me. Comes with the territory of being alive. If I had been born in 1858 instead of 1958, I'd have died at the age of 19.
So in that context, it's life for me and I can deal with it.
Honestly, I can say I am thankful I have T1D. When I say thankful, I'm not saying I would ignore a cure if it comes tomorrow, but I mean that T1D has provided me with opportunities. I have met many amazing new people, been able to support my older T1D Brother, and been healthier because I do have to watch my body, which I am more in-tuned with! The amazing opportunities it has provided me through conferences, and an Internship I received because I have T1D. It has given me confidence to do what I never thought I could and has made me a leader and an advocate who is not afraid to step out and talk about my experiences.
Although this isn't exactly true, per-say, I also believe that I was given T1D because I could handle it and overcome it, and that maybe there is one less other person out there now who doesn't have to worry about getting T1D. Someone who may not have been able to live with this disease (Financially, Physically, Mentally, Geographically, etc.)
The most honest and scary thing I'd say about diabetes is it has brought me close to death. It has taught me how physically frail I am. It has made me dependent on other people at times. It has cost me a lot of money. It has taken a lot of my time. It has frustrated me. It's made me worry I'm passing some horrible future on to my son. That's all the bad stuff.
It has also brought good things to me. It's made me toughen up and develop a sense of humor about myself. I am more patient with people and have learned how to communicate and teach. Diabetes has helped me become a more developed person than I would have been otherwise. People respect me for dealing with all that I do. I'm proud of myself for doing it too. I'm also grateful for all of my family and friends who love me and deal with the challenges my diabetes brings. Some people have fair-weather spouses... with all my husband has had to deal with because of my diabetes, I KNOW he loves me.
My most honest thoughts I have about “My Diabetes” aren’t very pretty!
Here goes! 1st: It sucks so bad it’s not even funny!!!
2nd: I was 52 when I got dx’ed in ICU, DKA, bs 672 and a1c 13.3
Talk about having to do a MAJOR life change!!! I still even after 5 years, will wake up and then remember "I am a Club 1 diabetic"
3rd: It affect almost every part of my life and not in a good way.
4th I am so fricking tried of being a pin cushion/dart board. I poke myself with something more times in 1 day than I have in my life before diabetes!
5th: Because Club 1 doesn’t happen overnight, I have nerve problems right from the start!!
Here is what happened to me! I get dx’ed and right away(sort of! LOL) got what is called good control. So after about a year of being in control my feet and lower legs started to feel really funny!! Felt like they would start buzzing, then the tingling kind of like when you a body part fall asleep and then the burning pain. I have been told that it the years for “My Diabetes” to develop and during that time of uncontrolled bs I got the nerve damage. Now that I have good control my body was able to heal some, right to point I can feel the pain. Lucky me!
And my latest dx’ed?? Fibromyalgia, which they think comes from my nerve damage, amplified pain signals!! And because of all this I am 100% disabled!!
There are some good with "My Diabetes"
I know more about how my body than before diabetes!
I know a lot about food that I didn’t before.
I am thankful for everyday I wake up.
And last but not least the great people I have met here and other websites!
One last thing a little off track! Alee11 your pictures looks a lot like someone I meet here when I was 1st dx’ed and if it is!!! I am so happy to see you again and hear from you! I missed you! If not oh well! LOL