Gary, get your BS under control and things will settle down. Don't ever say that you would choose never existing. Watch the movie "it's a wonderful life" without you here there would be a lot of people that would have missed great moments. I've had D nearly my whole life and it's such a big and small part of my life at the same time. Control is key! As for a cure - I don't think it would change how I live my life or what I do. I've done everything and anything I wanted. Backpacked around Europe, climbed the Great Wall of China in a 10km hike, triathlons, marathons, lived in Fance and Australia. Diabetes is part of me but it never stops me. Diabetes isn't about suffering, it's about balance, balancing your sugars, your food and your activity. Balancing the three is tricky but we all do it.
>> For me, diabetes put me on a whole different road than the road that I wanted to be on.
Did you want to be a pilot? That's about the only thing I can think of that D won't allow you to do... You used to not be able to scuba dive, but you can now (the story, apocryphal though it may be, was that a young man in the Caribbean hid his diabetes, became certified as a diver, then became a doc when he grew up and and showed it's okay for us to go under water -- though that's where I feel I am when in intense hypoglycemic reaction as it is...). There are diabetic footballers, doctors, mountain bikers (!!), rock musicians, nurses, etc. You catch my drift, yeah?
I'm interested to know, if you care to share, how exactly D moved you to a different road than the one you wanted to be on. Please.
/\/\
Bec,
Look at life in a different way, you have diabetes, but it does not have you. Yes it is difficult to understand at first, but listen to your body, it gives you lots of signals: dry mouth; sugar is either too low or two high, fatigue; indicates your sugar is too high. Neon yellow urine your sugar level is great.
Monitor everything by making slight changes in insulin admittance, both long term and short term, treat it like a game of adventure. Learn, learn and learn..remember you are the boss, listen and learn how your body functions.
Ignoring your bodily functions and just guessing gets you nowhere. It really isn't hard but you must pay attention. One suggestion you become your own doctor. You tell him what you need, don't be dictated by doctors its your body not theirs
Kind Regards
Mark
Mark - I totally do not understand your post to me (sorry) - I have no issue with my D, I know all the symptoms (I've been T1D for 14 years) and I have a wonderful team of doctors who help me manage...so, I'm confused (though I appreciate your kind words of advice). Cheers, Bec
In short Michael, yup.
I was halfway through college, on my way to Air Force OTS with every intention of flying for Uncle Sam. Worse case scenario, I'm still an officaer in the Air Force. That was huge for a military brat, born and bred.
Ironically, I was diagnosed by a Marine doctor at the Marine base my dad was stationed at.
My nephew is diabetic as well and a certified SCUBA diver.
Yes, it is certainly possible to lead a very fullfilling life despite diabetes. Doesn't change the fact that it's all about accomodation.
My sugars are in acceptable control most of the time but I still feel horrible. Nothing is going to change that unless my pancreas and metabolic system do the job they are supposed to do. Good for you living as you have but I would bet my last dollar if you felt like me you would be the same miserable that I am. My father who also is insulin dependent feels fine more or less where ever his sugar levels are so in reality we have two different diseases. The bottom line is any medical adviser can sit and tell me all day long that at the levels I generally run I should feel fine but I don't. This disease effects everyone differently. I've had sugars just post 100 and felt horrible.
So, I nailed you issue on the head, eh? :) However, it seems I was actually wrong about the whole 'you can't be a pilot if you're a diabetic' thingy: Dexcom Hero Douglas Cairns, Diabetic Pilot. Too late for you, yes.
Who knew? News to me (and the story is only, y'know, nine years old now...).
/\/\
you are exactly right bec. To me diabetes has made me a stronger person and im not as scared to do things now.https://forum.tudiabetes.org/topics/it-changes-us-but-in-a-good-way
Pretty obvious huh? =P
Yeah, my brother in law is a licensed pilot and he tells me that it is possible to still be a pilot with diabetes. It's not so much the flying as it was the career in the military though.
If I had gotten diabetes after enlisting, I would have been able to stay in.
Such is life...
It seems like people are challenging all these prohibitions right and left. DLife had a segment about a woman who fought to get the right to work with marine mammals by demonstrating she tests very often and maintains excellent control.
I was not attacking you. I was simply making a statement about the disease that will probably kill me. It sucks and I see absolutely nothing positive about it. That reflects nothing about how I feel about my life. I am quite happy with my life and I feel I have been quite successful in spite of diabetes. Trust me diabetes had nothing to do with my success. I also do not live in denial of the impacts this disease has on my body and my life. I would have loved to known my dad but this disease killed him at 41 and left me without a dad and my mom without a husband. So I will proudly state that diabetes SUCKS.
Unless there is a delay for some reason, I am planning to get it for the first weekend of March, which will be either on the 3rd or 4th. If I have to delay it for whatever reason, it would be delayed a week.
thesis + apotheosis = synthesis?
I had chocolate donuts on Tuesday, at my coworker's retirement party. I read through the thread and I disagree that it's inappropriate to question someone posting "diabetes sucks" in a ***happy*** thread as, after all it's a free country.
I've mentioned this before but after the "thaw" in the late 1960s, Dmitri Shostakovich was asked "how could you live under Communism?" to which he replied "it was better than the alternative" and I agree with that. Diabetes is here, apparently for the foreseeable future, and I'm going to work to be as happy with it as I can, despite the efforts of BlueCrossBlueSuck to %$#& with me. I was reconnoitering golf shots at their office last night and noted that they'd gotten to Google Earth, using "hops" to to the shot-proof subterranean approaches to obscure online scouting of approach shots...
I know I can come off as a fairly negative person, but I really do like my life. I just hate diabetes with a passion.
My hatred toward diabetes keeps me motivated. I hate it so much that I can't let it win.
Depends on what country you're in...
But, I digress.
/\/\
Thanks for that - it was a good thread to read through :)
I'm pretty neutral about having diabetes, but my diagnosis was a very positive thing for me.
With all the symptoms I'd been having, I was worried I'd be told I had a brain tumor, cancer, or some other problem/disease that would result in a fairly quick, painful death. So being told that it was diabetes, and I'd likely live a pretty normal life as long as I took care of myself, was a HUGE relief! HUGE!!!
It's a great feeling knowing that the issues that were making me so ill before diagnosis will probably all go away.
I kind of like that my choice of eating poorly has been taken away. I know I'll take constantly excellent care of myself from now on, because I'm not willing to risk the increased consequences of slacking off.
On the emotional side, there have been a few quite positive things.
I'm a pretty mellow, optimistic person, but you never know how you'll react to life's challenges. I'm very happy that I've been able to stay so happy during the physically miserable pre-diagnosis to now. I'm grateful that I didn't take the news hard, and have been able to adapt to the circumstances with relative ease. It's raised my confidence that I can handle the difficult things that might come my way in the future.
I also feel a renewed appreciation for my husband, family, and friends. It was wonderful to know I have such a loving support system in place.
There are no other people with diabetes in my family or close social circle, so I'm grateful to have found this forum, with so many kind, helpful people.
Oh, there is one more thing... an indirect positive effect of my experience with diabetes so far.
I, and my mother, had been putting off/avoiding going to the doctor. It was a combination of thinking 'eh, I'll be fine tomorrow, next week, etc' and not having much faith in the competency of Drs/medicine overall. My mom had been having a painful issue with her leg for the better part of a year. Major swelling, circulation issues, oozing wounds that wouldn't heal. Looked very bad and dangerous. She had gone to a (stupid!) specialist that told her there was nothing that could be done, and just sent her home with pain killers.
Once I got my diagnosis, I spoke with my mother about how bad things could've gotten if I hadn't gone in when I did. The first Dr I'd seen was also not on top of his game, kept saying how good I looked, and wouldn't run the tests. But the 2nd Dr I saw agreed and I got the help I needed. This got my mom to demand a 2nd opinion, and she went in the next day. She is now scheduled for a shunt placement surgery next week. If successful, her odds of throwing a clot, going septic, losing the leg, etc will be greatly reduced. Her quality of life could be drastically improved. That is a VERY positive thing!
Some things about living with T1 absolutely stink and make me hate this disease more than ever - the lows, the highs, the not knowing if you're going to wake up in the morning, the constant poking, the constant bleeding, the constant obsession over food, having to carry around a bag with a ton of supplies for a simple evening out, constantly obsessing about BG levels, waking up in a soaking sweat because you're low, the expenses, feeling like I can't do something as simple as being alone because I might lose consciousness, and feeling so different from everyone else.
When I think about all these things, it really makes me hate this disease.
But then I realized there are way more positive things that has come as a result of me living with this thing each day. Here are just a few:
- I think I'm actually healthier than most people around me. I eat better, exercise more, and am just more generally aware of my health.
- I love harder and work harder than anyone I know.
- I have wicked math skills.
- I can laugh at things even when they seem scary.
- I am more confident.
- I can fight (and win) just about any insurance battle!
- Things that others find "hard" in life are just minor speed bumps to me. When you live with something as hard as D, other things just start to seem like a cakewalk!
- I'm a tough athlete. I think having D has made me more in tune with my body and more able to fight through things others just can't.
- I'm wicked organized. When staying organized helps keep you alive, it spills over into other areas of your life as well. This means that I am also super organized at work, and this has led to a lot of success in my career. I don't think I would have been this organized without D.
Overall, I really do think living with T1D has made me a better person. I'm more empathetic than I would naturally be otherwise and I value everything in my life a bit more (I think) than others around me. Sure, I'd like a cure, but I'm pretty darn happy knowing that I have access to all the things I need to stay healthy and active.