So we've covered what we'd do with a cure, if we want a cure, if we'd still choose diabetes if we could go back in time, and seemingly everything else in between except for: If the cure was discovered and was optional, would you choose it and why?
I think I would choose to be cured. It would be different for sure, but I think diabetes is more "me" than diabetic. Like I've said in some other post before, I'll take what I can get; if that includes a cure, bring on the carbs; if not, I'm content to keep spreading the word so we do get there. I wouldn't turn it down... I think the message of diabetes, spreading awareness, and bettering treatments etc. is more a part of who I am than the actual insulin shots and blood tests that come with it. It would definately be new; but just being able to eat carbs without bolusing wouldn't change who I am. I'm too "pro-diabetes" for it to ever change regardless of being cured ;)
As long as the health risks of the cure do not outweigh the health risks of diabetes, I'd do it in a heart beat.
Going along with what BrianC said... as long as there weren't potential health risks and that it was safe and everything I would be cured. However, for me that might be easier to live with because I had 18.5 years of not being diabetic and only 8.5 months of being diabetic.
I'm curious what others think... those who have had diabetes since they were little and can't remember what it's like to live without it.
I don't remember what it is like to not have diabetes but I would still choose the cure in a heartbeat.
Alyssa,
Back a couple of years ago I had this same question on my personal blog but in a different way ... It was called Two Roads.
This was the question:
If you were given the chance to go back to before you were diagnosed and had two roads to take, one was the road that leads you up to the point you are at now with all that has come with diabetes and the other will lead you to a life without diabetes, which road would you take and why?
I completely agree with you. Cure, for sure. :)
On a side note, I know a guy who just received a kidney/pancreas transplant. He no longer has to worry about bolusing, but he said that he didn't take care of his diabetes as well as he could have. So, he's been "cured"... but he also has significant health problems and he had to undergo a risky operation.
So, like Brian said... I'll take the cure as long as it's been proven safe and effective. And, I'm not going to let my health go downhill in the meantime... the cure may be developed 5 years - 50+ years from now.
Given those circumstance, Gina....I would without a single bit of doubt take the diagnosis again.
It's cheesy, but I've always called my diagnosis my blessing in disguise because I've grown and gained such an insurmountable amount through the disease---so much so that I'd be afraid to know the lowly person I'd be had I not been diagnosed when I was the clumsy-awkward age of 11.
My career passion. My friends. My annual summer activity. My most distinct memories. My undergrad and medical school application bragging points. My Facebook interests. My trip to DC to speak with Congress. My reasoning for living a healthy lifestyle.
All of those points are because of diabetes.
Those are the things that give me drive in life. Diabetes has had such a positive influence on me that I'm willing to put up with the injections and risk of dying 10-15 years earlier. I'd rather have the more dynamic, soul-satisfying life that includes both the ups and downs of diabetes than have all those things erased from my life. I believe people would have a much easier time accepting the crappiness of highs and the potential years lost if they took it upon themselves to overlook the downside, embrace the upside, and make up for that lost time by encouraging themselves to just LIVE! Live life like you actually realize that you can't ever relive it.
I'm not saying this is a one-size-fits-all philosophy. Just my outlook on the big D.
Like what most others said, I'd definitely pick a cure as long as the health risks aren't higher than with diabetes. Hopefully that cure comes soon! :]
Going back in time and erasing my diabetes is not an option, I would be an awful person, I am sure of that.
But I need a cure and will take it in a heart beat, I even am willing to be a test subject for a cure- Anything, I'll put my life on the line for it. I fear ever having children because of it. Sure i can do almost anything with it. But everything says that I will die because of it. I want to keep my eye sight, I want my kidneys to have it easy, I want to be free from this disease. Diabetes is a burden that weights down on me mentally and physically, a burden that I fear will keep me from ever having a child of my own because I feel I will never be able to give my all and my body will never be a safe enough place to carry a life for 40 weeks and there after.
I don't know how women with diabetes ever feel their body is safe enough to carry it.
There is no question, i will give up diabetes in a heart beat, and even if the cost is more then i can afford, i will spend the rest of my life paying it off.
Yes I agree completly even if I were cured some day that still will not change who I am but I might not get the looks of people at resteraunts
I would definitely choose a cure...after having D for 30 years, I don't remember what it was like before being diagnosed...but I sure would like to not have to worry about all the testing and shots and worrying if I can eat or even taste something...having to plan all meals and exercise and - well, basically everything - around shots and testing is a real downer...
Thinking about dying earlier and have complications even with tight control - you bet, I would choose a cure in a hearbeat!
im probably going to be the only one that says this but i would choose to have the disease, it is what helped make me who i am and i wouldn't trade that for anything.
I actually agree with you... I wouldn't choose the cure when I think back on all the events in my life diabetes was the most life altering... if it weren't for diabetes I would be the person I am today. Even though its hard I think it helps me be a better person and look beyond what I see in others. Even though somedays I wish so badly for a cure... I don't think I'd take it!
I'm more in the middle i hate not having blueberries and a lot of sweets, but this disease makes me ME and who would trade your life in for a cure (ok maybe me still theres a meaning behide the madness)!
Lifes a party so you might as well DANCE! :p
Absolutely, undoubtedly, take the cure. After having dealt with diabetes for 16 years and experienced some negative side effects of it such as depression and the difficulty it can create in social situations there is no way I would say no to getting rid of it. I hate to be a downer, but when people say "Diabetes has made me healthier", I don't agree. To me healthier would mean you don't live with a disease, or have increased risk of suffering other complications from it. Sure it makes us eat healthier and exercise more, but that doesn't make us healthier in the "net", I still think overall we are less healthy than without the disease. That being said I think diabetes does come with its upsides. It has certainly made me more disciplined and mature. It has also given me a career directive, but in response to Ideen's post, I don't think having diabetes will help me get into med school. I've talked to an admissions officer and she said I shouldn't tell the school in my application, as having to deal with a disease a long with the stresses of med school would certainly make it tougher. Although, I'm not quite sure I'd have the drive to work as hard for my marks or get necessary experiences if I didn't have diabetes; I guess it's a toss up. Once again though, I would much rather have a cure.
Dylan, I totally agree with you. 100%. Sure, this disease has made me who I am, but I'm staring at 17 years' worth of complications caused by diabetes and it ain't pretty. There are good things about it, i.e. it's forced me to grow up, it's forced me to know myself, to make adult decisions, to always be aware that I am very mortal, that this life is a gift... all of that. It's true. BUT, I'd rather enjoy living to be 100. And the hard fact is that diabetes is a chronic incurable disease. It's not a walk in the park, and it's not a blessing. I've gone back and forth with this idea, but I believe that the lessons are the blessing. Now that I've got the lessons, now that I know how important it is to really take care of yourself and to know yourself inside and out, I want the opportunity to put it to practice. That's where the cure comes in. This diabetic body is only going to last for so long, and as for as many of us who are going in to medicine, you hear every single day that if one system suffers, they all suffer, and after almost 18 years of having health with an asterisk, I would welcome the cure.
and for me having it for 19 plus years i still wouldn't change it until it is guaranteed to work for me.