Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Six Things I Want You To Know About Diabetes.


Today is the Sixth Annual D-Blog Day, and the DOC is blogging about the Six Things We Want You To Know About Diabetes - so, here is my list.
  1.  I don't expect you to know everything, or even most things, about diabetes.  What I do hope for is an open and curious mind, and your ability to patiently listen to me blather on about it.  I also hope that you'll retain at least some of what I'm saying, and pass it on to others who need to know.
  2. "Sugar-Free" foods don't really do me any good.  All food (even protein) is eventually converted to glucose by the body, and even sugar-free foods still have carbs.  The sugar-free stuff doesn't taste as good, and I rather like to enjoy the food I eat - so hand me the real stuff, please.
  3. Checking my blood sugar and inserting a new insulin pump or CGM site hurts.  It hurts every time, and I can't even tell you how many thousands of times I've stuck some sort of needle in myself during the past quarter century.  It's just a sort of hurt you get used to tolerating.
  4. I am not my A1C.
  5. But, when I have a "good" A1C, I will totally brag about it.
  6. As much as diabetes can suck, it can also have an upside. As a side effect of our obstacles and challenges, I think we become stronger, more resilient, more compassionate, and more highly in tune with our bodies than most. Diabetes teaches us some tough lessons, but also makes us appreciate life a little bit more - because we recognize the fraility of it.

3 comments:

  1. I would like to add a little tidbit to #2. Sugar-free foods, if not consumed responsibly, will destroy you in a very disgusting way.

    It's a lesson I learned when I was diagnosed and my Mom's coworkers showed up with a huge bag of sugar-free jelly beans. I ate them all -- and I haven't touched one since.

    So, yeah: sugar-free foods = useless and terrible.

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  2. Great list! I especially liked #1!

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  3. I prefer # 4 and 5....especially when my senior-citizen mom pesters to know my last A1C value.

    And in a parallel to Jacquie's comment....I went through 3 small frozen italian ice thingies sweetened with sorbitol instead of sugar. The hour spent "aux loo" provided all the education I ever needed, too!

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