I’ve lost a friend to cancer - she was only 34 at the time - and what she went through was incredibly painful. Get to know someone who has to go through cancer and you’ll see that while diabetes can be difficult it is treatable and something that one can learn to handle with a little inner strength.
I think so Stu. No awareness of what our blood sugars were at any time. just pee on the strip when you felt bad, which wasn’t often for me. Now was ignorance bliss? Maybe for me it was in a way. I remember only thinking about diabetes whenn it was morning shot time ( I was on one a day for over 25 years) and i knew not to eat simple carbs like cake, candies and cookies and deserts, mainly because they made me feel bad and I would not have energy to live my active life.( Actually, I would occasionally eat a Dunkin cake donut when I was going to college in Atlanta and walked to the bus and caught the trains and on my feet moving all day… No bolus or carb-counting., I just did it and ran to the bus stop at the Five points station). I discovered that as long as I was active and took my shots, i did not have negative symptoms of diabetes.I also never had pass-out lows until I started on MDI and synthetic insulins. I had lows , but not almost every other day, now that I have "tighter’ ( less than 7.0 A1c control).
SometimesI wonder, too, if all this info is too much info.
(somewhat like heresy to say that on this forum, sorry folks).
Now I do not have any major league complications, some neuropathy/pain/tingles from spinal stenosis and random eye-crossing from no body knows why reasons. Yet as I age, I want to keep as healthy as I can. So I cannot advocate this for anyone else…but I do turn off the CGMs as sometimes I just do not want to know. It can be TMI and OCD, but I do it…almost all the time. But not ALL THE TIME.
God BLess,
Brunetta
Well, there you have it – being TREATED for diabetes is ALMOST blissful – about as close as you’re going to get!
Seems to me that the people who react so badly to those who say “At least it isn’t cancer”, are throwing themselves massive pity parties, and are so far out of touch with reality that they couldn’t hit it with a bowling ball.
Hello Lots ; )
Can we learn to be blissful, contented, “at peace” without achieving our goals?
Or do these goals themselves provide the struggle somehow???
Stuart
Pondering the “big questions” again today…
yes i am blissful happy or anything that reminds my that ohh crap even when it hurts to get out of bed that i at least am still alive to feel the pain of getting out of bed…
the one positive about diabetes is that if/when it ever happens and i choose to no longer be around all i have to do is just live like a ‘normal’ person and nature will do the rest. no big messy blood stains, no graphic images of hangman’s nusse or anything like that i i/we have to do is just fade away…
but as glum as that sounds it frees me up to live everyday how I CHOOSE and love every minute of it because it is better than being dead for me… at least right now i am having way to much fun with all these let’s call them ‘challenges’ diabetes and life throws at us no matter how frustrating the fight is because at least i can still fight.
Yay, Jeremiah!! I have had the same feelings about not choosing to be around (and almost succeeded last year). The whole experience has given me a new viewpoint on life, and yes, I CHOOSE to live, and appreciate what life has to offer.
Hello Jeremiah_81:
First thank you for taking partI
Myself I don’t mind the “fight”…
I OBJECT to the e-n-d-l-e-s-s rounds
and to the clown who’s in charge of the freaking ~time clock~ and round bell.
They CHEAT >: > !!!
Stuart
I personally don’t understand how anyone could ever be blissful about being diabetic…21 years and I still haven’t felt this bliss, so I don’t think it’s coming…
I take care of it as best I can. I try not to get too stressed out about highs and lows (though I, like everyone, have the “burnout” days when I don’t want to deal with it or just feel like crying because of the unfairness of it all), and I live my life. I don’t think I will ever be completely at peace with it either. It’s always there, it’s always going to be, and no matter what I have to poke my fingers, stick myself with needles, etc…
I think the best thing is to just do the best you can and try not to let it control your life. Try to have the most “normal” life possible.
It may not exactly be “blissful” but I think that there is some utility in learning about one’s body for longer cardio activities. I’ve run by people passed out in hosta beds being attended to by volunteers 10 miles into marathons. Except for one smaller race I run, there’s always people puking at races, even 5K. Is it nerves? The “pasta feed” (which I skip, not b/c of Dr. Bernstein or Gary Scheiner but following the suggestion of Jeff Galloway, a noted running advocate…), too much Monster energy drink? Who knows but I am glad I know where my BG is and that I’m not dealing with loading up on stuff so I can just run. Which can be blissful at times.
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For me, the word bliss has more of Buddhist connotation, although I realize most would not use this definition. So for me, to achieve bliss concerning diabetes would be to be able to look beyond the day to day hassle and frustrations and be at peace with ones life. The negatives don’t go away, as with most of life’s challenges, this is impossible. But I believe it is possible to minimize it’s effect on ones everyday state of mind, at least most of the time.
I have only been at this about 1.75 years and perhaps burnout may rear it’s ugly head at some point. I’m also a non insulin dependent T2 so I have it easier than some. I test a lot but if I decide to skip testing every once in a while, or forget because I get busy at work, there’s really no consequence. The demands on an insulin dependent are more relentless, and thus more difficult to overcome.
So by my lights I guess I have achieved bliss, at least a good part of the time. The key is to deal with the cards you’re dealt with as much grace as you can muster, and see beyond to what’s important and wonderful about life.
Blissful, no. Thankful I developed it in the late 20th century so I could stay alive, heck yes! Thankful for the treatment I have to keep myself healthy, although a cure would be bliss
Interesting concept, BadMoon. I can ignore diabetes for about an hour or two, when I’m involved in something else (unless my pump beeps at me!), and maybe I’m experiencing bliss, but it’s not because of my diabetes, but in SPITE of my diabetes. If I really didn’t care where my BGs went, I might be able to ignore it for longer, but I’m operating on the theory that I might still have 20 good years in me, and that’s long enough to develop complications, so I do pay attention to keeping my BGs in as tight control as I can (at least most of the time). And, to be honest, that’s not bliss; it’s a darn nuisance. But a necessary one, if I am to do as you say – see what’s important and wonderful about life.
I’m really not advocating ignoring doing whatever needs to be done, complications are not my idea of bliss. And as I say I’ve got it a lot easier than someone like you. I guess it all boils down to keeping a positive attitude about the cards you’ve been dealt, doing what needs to be done, and getting on with your life. Of course it goes without saying all this is easier said than done, especially when your pumps beeping at you:)
I wish you and all at Tud a long, complication free and blissful life.
Hello Anthony:
If I meet a Buddha… I’ll let you know ; ) As for bliss… naaah. Enlightenment hopefully. Contentment with ones suffering certainly. Bliss not likely. Last I checked it was one of those emotion things. As you know… they lead to suffering. Perfer contentment but yet to achieve it… with diabetes or otherwise.
Stuart
Hello Robin:
Thank you for taking part… which fear (asked respectfully) did you conquer? I have mastered few, but worst among them I can name would be the ghosts of diabetes past. The ghosts of diabetes future I do not understand sufficently, too many and too vast. What might become is too difficult to grasp for me.
I find few answers, but seek contentment not yet achieved. Thanks for the good wishes…
Stuart
Hello natalie:
Months late, but thanks for taking part.
What is this “acceptance”? How does it present itself I wonder? Acceptance… hummmngh. Does unable to change something the same creature as this acceptance? What of ~beliefs~ of the future is that the same thing as this acceptance you speak of?
Stuart
Hello Jonah:
Late but thank you for taking part.
What does being at peace mean re: diabetes i wonder? How does one tell…? Yup she’s clearly at peace obviously see, see…?
Is it not an either or proposition, hot or cold, front and center or not. Either we are or we are not, no???
Stuart
For me, acceptance is being able to do the daily things I need to do without having to FORCE myself to do them. Without thinking I really don’t want to check my BG just now – can’t it wait? Without arguing with myself about maybe I can skip this bolus just this once, or maybe I can eat this luscious-looking cake just this once – which never turns out to be once. Most of the time, I master the urges to ignore diabetes, but sometimes they get me, particularly in social situations. And I hate having it at the forefront of my mind all the time – sometimes I just want to eat without thinking about what I’m eating. Diabetes is NOT natural or habitual for me.
As far as the future, I have exactly no hope that anything will happen that will affect me. There will NOT be a cure for me. I will carry this burden until I die, and the fight is about taking care of myself properly, so that I can die as an old lady who is ready to go.
I’m sorry to sound so negative, but I’m letting you see the feelings that are deep down inside of me, and not my pretty-for-show face.