Contemplate, Relate, Educate - share your perspective!

I am Rick Phillips, I was diagnosed while at Disney World when I was 16 years old. I was released from the hospital on my 17th birthday, 34 years ago. i knew two things the day I was released, First Disney World is not always the happiest place on earth and my life would never ever be the same. I was angry. It is an anger I never really ever gotten over. I doubt I will ever get over it.

At age 17 my doctor told me the truth as he knew it. Basically, the doctor said look you will have about 25 years of productive life and if you are lucky you may live until you are 50. Imagine telling a 17 year old, this is your death sentence. Why was this so important, well by the time my mom was 40 at the time. She was blind, facing dialysis, and was in danger of losing her feet. Mom had been diabetic for fifteen years.

Faced with the thought of not making it until I was 50 I had some very important decisions to make. the first one was what to do with my life? I wanted to make a difference in the world of politics. my dream was to go to Washington and working campaigns. That was out. First I did not have time and second what if i was sick, how would I take care of myself. Young campaign workers don’t have health insurance. Second, I wanted a family. Think about it, if I wanted to have children i had to be married, and have them very soon, otherwise I would leave them wihtout college and without a dad. Fifty was coming up fast.

So I refocused, decided I would do local politics, hopefully get married ASAP and decide about children. One thing I had to face, was do I want to have children. My mother passed the disease to me, but she did not she would have it when I was born. Mom was 26 when she was diagnosed. I knew better, and could I have children since I did know better?

I was married at 19 and my wife and I are happy and still married. We decided to have children, two wonderful sons that I love desperately. and I started a local political career. Since my health fluctuated I never ran for office instead I worked for candidates and then for 16 years in local government. I ignored my diabetes. Why not? I mean I was gong to die soon enough no matter what I did so live hard and die young.

I took my motto from a Neil Young song, out of the black into the blue. The lyric I adopted was, “its better to burn out then fade away”. i was never going to fade away, i had a bang to serve up and it had to be fast.

When I went to college, i was living hard. I was 18 and I needed to burn the candle at both ends and the middle. I had so much living to do and so little time. I was married at the end of my sophomore year and settled down a bit but I ignored my diabetes. A doctor told me to lose some weight when I was 26 and i decided to never go back. So I did not for 20 years. Slow down, lose weight, take care of yourself? i did not have time. I needed to live.

When I was 34 i went to work one day and had this epiphany, see I had accomplished everything in my life i intended to do. i was ready to die. and for several years I prayed I would or at least get horribly sick. Well I was not dieing and not getting sick. When I was 37 I entered therapy with the thought that I wanted to lose the depression, and get over my fear of medical doctors. My mom died when she was 48. She was on dialysis, she last part of her hands, could not see and could no longer walk. My death sentence was so real, technology did not help her. i did nto expect it to help me.

When I went to the medical doctor for the first time in over 20 years, he said we have been waiting for you. I said waiting, I have been running away. After a couple of years of seeing a GP I went to an Endo and have been with him ever since. It was a good move. When I started with him, i still only saw one doctor. One day I told him my back hurt and did some tests. Turned out I had RA so I got an RA doctor. Then an eye doctor, and a heart doctor. I went from 20 year sof no doctors, to today with 16. Avoiders revenge.

So now I am 52, my sons are grown and I am not working, not because of the diabetes but because of the RA. Today I find it hard to walk, sit and stay awake. (RA causes extreme exhaustion). So what is next ?

Today I am enjoying my granddaughter, she is 1. my sons are married and I am back in college working on an EdD. i have been married for 32 years, and I am comfortable. But what if i taken a different path? Suppose I had taken car eof myself, seen a doctor once in awhile? I might have lived better, accomplished more worked longer had more fun and worried less. i am not blind, I can walk, and my kidneys are fine. So what is next? i dont know.

rick phillips

PS: when i was in the hospital and 16 they brought me an orange to practice my injections on. I was so hungry I ate it. One the second day they brought another, I ate it. On the third day they made me inject wihtout practice. Later that day I asked for an organe to practice on. I ate it.

I I have been type 1 for 41 years., on the pump and considering getting a CGMS Perspectives 2,3, and 7, Melissa .are right on the type one score card for me as well!!:
When I was diagnosed at 13 in the Fall of 1968, we did not have the treatment protocols; and only got blood glucose readings once every 3 months at the quarterly endo visits. I remember being told," You will go blind and get your feet cut off" by the dour endocrinologist after a high reading. I ,fortunately, never believed that . Because so little was known about correctly managing our blood glucose levels, we had to “wing it”. Fortunately for me, my parents never told me I could not fly, I stayed in the Marching band, exercised and swam, rode bikes ( and still do) regularly. I went to Europe as a foreign exchange student 5 years later as a 19 year old type one on insulin. In a sense, ignorance was bliss…I took one shot of NPH a day, never tested my blood sugar( n0 portable glucometers in the 1970;'s) I , and I was healthy as a horse ( maybe I had an extended “honeymoon” period, which of course no-one had heard of in those days). I can say that until I was about 38 or 39, diabetes was at the back of my mind. I was healthy, had a great career, the love of friends family, and my GOD. I did not marry, so I did not want to have children as a single parent. If I had, I knew of several high-risk OB"s in my city and I would not have been afraid to try to bear a child.

I had a life-cahanging experience in 2002: a very serious bout of pernicious anemia ( b-12 deficiency, another auto-immune syndrome), which went undiagnosed, caused nerve damage, emontinal upheaval, and basically “sat me down” ( I could not walk!!!) for almost 3 months. I had to face my disease and deal with mortality. I recovered and am grateful to GOD for allowing me to sit still and be with HIM for those 3 months…
I started testing multiple times daily and switched to MDI, then a year later, to the pump. I guess I went from not thinking at all about my diabetes to thinking about it a very great deal. I cannot say that my a1c’s are consistently better, sometimes they are a 5.7, sometimes a 8.7, just like before… I do know a lot is due to stress from outside events, like a demanding job,family drama, and old-fashioned diabetes burn-out…That takes a big toll, on my control.
But I feel blessed to be still waking up as healthy as I am. I have been in DKA maybe 3 times in 41 years, all due to infectious disease issues. I do not have hypo unawareness . I have a wide roller-coaster ride of blood sugars some days, but do not passout, even when low as 38( was there three days ago).I have no fear of passing out in the night.: my body wakes me with odd dreams and sweats, so I get up and treat the hypoglycemia on the rare occassions I Know I have a nightime low . I do not have diabetes complications: the most pressing issue right now is a tingling neuropathy and leg cramps from spinal stenosis ( due to inheirited arthritis)When I exercise , take benfotiamine and gabapetin for the discomfort, I am o.k. throughout the day and night.
I think that our differences in day to day type one type two control issues have to do a lot with:
1: the range of blood glucose variance i( much wider for type ones) and
2:that it is somewhat harder for many type ttwo’s to get appropriate treatment and education early after diagnosis. Most type one’s are put on insulin immediately at diagnosis and start to feel better, many the very next day. I have heard so many type two’s who are not treated agressively at initial diagnosis and get little info from their primary health providers about how to manage their disease. They get put on treatment regimens that do not work for years and years , do not feel better,and are more often blamed for their “lack of complicance” when the drugs or tretment plan is all wrong for them. I hear this so much more often from type 2 friends and from reading about it on diabetic websites and internet forums., much more than from type ones.

Shannon, changing the infusion set will get easier for you, the more you do it. If the set you are using doesn’t work for you, contact your pump manufacturer and ask for another kind of set. I have changed infusion sets to ones that are nore reliable and not painful to insert. Ask them to send you samples to try.

God Bless,
Brunetta

I was diagnosed at 10 years old. Scared and nervous, because I had no idead what was happening. There is no family history of any type of diabetes in my family. at all.

  1. I have anxiety of being treated differently. It’s hard for me to be in a group of people and decline some type of food because I really shouldn’t eat that. I end up saying "I can eat anything as long as I cover it with insulin. Only to deal with the consequences later. So, Melissa. I agree completely with your first statement. In my mind I know I shouldn’t, but I just don’t like being seen as “different”. (Example: In Sunday School the teacher handed his son a plate with a big portion of food. The son’s reply? “Dad, what are you trying to do? Give me diabetes?” - not very comforting. Just another example of of uneducated person =/)

  2. I, too, would like a little pity party now and then! I don’t like the fact that I have to live with this chronic illness for the rest of my life. And I don’t like the tiny details that go into everything I do. I’ve learned to live with it yes. Do I love it? Absolutely not. I do it to stay healthy and living. This comes to play with my mom. She was diagnosed with Type II early last year, and in my eyes she is “competing” with me to see who has it worse. See, what I should be doing is giving her support and letting her support me in all we do concerning our diabetes. But, b/c she doesn’t have the finger pokes and insulin I have to endure, I want people to know I have to do more to keep control. It’s horrible I know, but it’s the little things that always get me.

  3. I hate when people tell me horror stories of their grandparent who died of a diabetic stroke/complications. I horrifies me to even think about it. Yes, I know with control I am more likely to avoid these, but it terrifies me. I don’t want to hear about people who died due to diabetic problems. It makes me want to curl up in a ball and stay there.

  4. I am the baby of the family, and the only Type I. My sisters always gave me a hard time growing up. Saying I was “playing” sick to get attention. They would eat cookies right infront of me, telling me how delicious they were…even though they knew I couldn’t have any. It was hard, but I realized that diabetes does not just affect me, it affects the whole family.

  5. I fear what the future holds. If I have children, will they develop diabetes. Am I going to encounter problems brought on by diabetes? Can I have children w/o feeling guilty if they do develop T1? Will I be able to continue my everyday activities? So much fear and anxiety on a daily basis. Though, I know I will make it through a little easier with family support and TuD!

  6. I believe everyone with diabetes (no matter what type) desire the same thing. Control and unity. The way Type 1 and 2 control may be different, but we both still strive to do our best so we can live a long and healthy life. Yes, there is a difference in the types, but we should all come together. Not attack T2 people b/c type 1 is “worse”. Type 2’s have a right to vent…

  7. I joined TuD for more information about pumps before I had decided on the Omnipod. But, I have gained so much more than information. I feel like I belong, for once in my diabetic life. In HS (I was the only d-person in a school of 500-and we did not have a nurse), I would put popularity first and diabetes second. All that did was hurt myself. I now realize I am not alone - not even close. There’s a whole wide world out there filled with people like me =) This has become a second home to me. Whenever I feel down or having a rough d-day, I come here and my spirits always get lifted. You guys know exactly how I feel, and it’s not one of those ‘sympathy’ “i know how you feel” I LOVE TuD!

  8. Is it just me…but I detest people who say “I know how you feel” when in fact they have no clue. They don’t have to watch everything that goes in their mouth. They don’t have to worry about mood swings due to blood sugars. They don’t have to wait before they eat. They don’t have to poke their finger 8+ times a day. THEY DON’T KNOW.

  9. I do struggle with food intake. It scares me. I will say “well I already shot this day, might as well wait until tomorrow.” -or- “As long as I cover this with insulin, I will be fine” - only to see the reprecussions later with a high BG. Also why I love this site. There are other people who deal with this too. We are here to support each other. I don’t hear the “Why are you doing that?” “You know, if you keep this up…” It’s all encouranging words…it makes me happy =)

I feel T1 & T2 differ in the following aspects:

  • isolation (I agree here, Melissa) - I did not know and still don’t know any other T1 around me. I think this is one thing that lead to my depression. No one to talk to face to face that knows what I’m going through and to encourage me when I’m feeling down. Mom’s T2, but it’s just not that same.

  • anxious about how the day may turn out - I don’t mean to step on any toes here. But I fear constantly on a daily basis that something is going to happen concerning my blood sugar/insulin that I won’t be prepared for. People constantly make fun of my over packing for trips and such. I tend to over pack to compensate for not knowing what I will need and when I will need it. As far as T2 in this regard (I’m going off my mom - not all T2). They pack pills and meter. Neither of which they have to have with them 24/7 unless their out and about to eat.

  • Since T2 is mostly diagnosed later in life than T1, they have lived most their life without having to worry about such things.

  • wider swings in blood sugar (also agree, Melissa.)

I agree with Scott, above, when he says it’s hard to see where other T1s are coming from, let alone T2.

I think all diabetics should come together for support, not to bring anyone down.

I do take into account how God has blessed me in my life with T1. I have had no serious complicatinos. DKA once, due to bad spot with my pump. I have been low a few times, where I should have passed out or been loopy - but I was able to take care of it myself. I thank God for the independence He has given me. I have used many testimony times to share how I have been blessed.

I thought I was a little weird for still being terrified of the infusion set change outs - the puppies can hurt! What you described sounds the infusion set canula that I’m currently using - Animas Inset II - as it has two little things on the side you press down and thump! it goes in. It’s kind of nerve wracking! :slight_smile:

I wish that the general public would stop saying (although, they’ve never said it to me) that “at least you don’t have cancer”. I know that I don’t have cancer, and I’m SUPER glad that I don’t because I would choose diabetes over cancer a million times anyday. However, by them saying that, they’re kind of blowing diabetes off. Granted, it’s nowhere near as serious or fatal as cancer, but it’s still a big deal! Not to say that I want people constantly falling over themselves feeling sorry for me, but it’s hard work, and I wish people would at least acknowledge that instead of dismissing it.

Why don’t we just stay focused on the diabetes, and not on other serious medical conditions. I did indeed have thyroid cancer and a thyroidectomy several years before I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I had outpatient and inpatient radioactive iodine. I had to go through several periods where I had to function without synthroid feeling absolutely wretched, but now I am considered cured with the end result one more prescription that I take for the rest of my life. Diabetes, on the other hand is in the back of my mind and seems more pervasive. I recently switched to MDI 4 times a day because of problems with side effects of several diabetes meds and other problems. I also have several other chronic conditions including a 3x cabg last April. Life is a struggle, but better than the alternative.

I’m glad that you’re cured of your cancer!

I think that you missed my point, though. What I was really trying to say was that people tend to trivialize diabetes and blow it off, and they really shouldn’t. That’s all, you know what I mean?

I understand 100% where you are coming from, Lena. My own grandmother said that to me =/

Apologies for the long reambly post–one of those days…

I don’t think it is possible to completely stay away from other diseases whne talking about D, least not for me. I am a T1. i was not dx’d as a child—however…I almost died as a child from a complete kidney failure–at the time it was classified as a congenital defect–my dr did not agree and thought it was autoimmune. The Dr did an expeimental surgery (not done anymore–not a very good success rate-transplants are done now. Most, maybe all (I didn’t really want to know when I was 13 so i didn’t ask)-of the other children I was in the hospital with died. when I as 13 I asked the dr straight up if I was going to die to (he had been honest before the surgery and told me I was very sick and he was going to try and make me better but I might die). His answer was–he didn’t know. Told me I would probably also end up with diabetes…he didn’t explian why–just told me to always be tested for it.

During this hospital stay I became a needle phobe–the sight of them made me pass out–knowing i needed to get a shot or blood testing gave me panic attacks. The diet for kidney disease during my childhood required a low protien high carb, low spice diet…no carbonated drinks…

Fast forward 40 years…i have my annual blood work–yep diabetic. Disater strikes this needle phobe…My gp sends me to an endo–due to my other medical issues wants me to see and endo…so the first one I can get into (all had waiting lists and this was a bit urgent) --her CDE dx me as type II because I am overweight and over 20–wants to put me on high protein/low carb diet and metformin (as I am thinking did you read my chart)–as I tell her I can do neither or those (I know my kidneys cannot tolerate met because they tried it for my PCOS)… a few drugs later (including byetta), very sick- fired her, went back to my GP and was started on insulin until I could get into a better endo-

So I would really like for CDE’s and Doctors especially to NOT jump to the conclusion that all 20+ peeps with new diagnoses are T2.

Not assume everyone can do a low carb diet…I had a wonderful dietician that worked very hard on a diet that works with all my medical prob and allergies and keeps my bg tameable

For people–all people to accept that diabetes–no matter the type can be an exaughsting disease–there is no vacation from it

I am very gald to have this site for support and a place to vent

I understand your point. Unfortunately it seems the outside world doesn’t get it. We have this disease 24 hours a day and any decision we make is going to affect it. It requires more contingency planning and more doctor visits and more medical expenses. When we get cut or sick it takes more time to heal and recover. Its something that’s not going to go away. We just have to manage it as best we can. Comparing cancer (in its many forms) and diabetes is like comparing apples and oranges.

It was a few tears in the way that you sometimes cry when you see something very beautiful… yeah, I get teary-eyed during Hallmark commercials, too!

Exhausting is right. I’ve had it for 31 years. Now that I’m 49, I get tired a lot more. I don’t travel with my husband and two children very much–sometimes I encourage them to go on vacation without me. It’s just too hard to pack all of my stuff and get all of us out the door with everything we need. One Thanksgiving we forgot the suitcase that had all of my clothing and my daughter’s clothing in it. Fortunately I had my diabetic supplies in my purse. One year we were visiting in San Diego, we finally got everyone all packed up and in the car and over to the Zoo (this was when we needed to pack up diapers, snacks, etc., for the little ones) and I found out as we drove up to the zoo that I forgot my insulin in the hotel room. If I’m the only one traveling, I do better, because I can take care of just me pretty well. I don’t find very many people in my life that understand what my hour-to-hour reality is like–I have a girlfriend who has trouble administering herself an antibiotic for the entire length of the prescription. Just one day taking the MDIs (five or more) the thyroid pills (two types of thyroid meds, taken twice a day), and all the blood testing would be WAY too much for most people to do year in and year out.
The self-management which is so exhausting is also invisible to most of the general public. The invisibility of it is a big part of why people don’t understand the stress of it.

Yvonne-
You ROCK!!

Hugs!

I have been reading through these posts with tears in my eyes…I can relate to all of the struggles all too well.

I was diagnosed in 1979 at age 7. My parents were immigrants who came to the US in search of a better life. They hardly spoke english when they were told that I had diabetes. Classic symptoms-thirst, urination, and weight loss. I was in DKA, and I, too, would have gone into coma or worse had my parents waited another day to take me to a hospital. I remember coming home from the hospital and practicing giving an orange injection shots, and my mom crying in the next room. It was Xmas Eve.

Over these last 30 years, I have had many ups and downs. So many that if I wrote them all, I’d be typing for days. I do feel that, right now, I’m working darn hard to keep my health in check. I have been on a pump for the last 3 years, and have become very open about my diabetes to whomever will listen to me about it. As a child/teen/young adult, I kept my condition a secret. People didn’t understand, so why should i tell them? I was in denial for a while, but had some scary episodes that finally got me to find a new doctor, get a pump, and here I am.

Some things I still struggle with every day:

  1. I suck at carb counting. I cannot eyeball food and get a good estimate of the amount of carbs in it. My old CDE told me that eventually, I’d get the hang of it…no dice.

  2. After 3 years of pumping, I still struggle with basal rates. I think they get adjusted each time I visit the endo.

  3. I test at least 10-12 times a day. I go through a vial of strips in 2 days. I freak when I see high numbers, and tend to over-correct (“I’ll show you, 242!”) This usually leads to a low, and the roller coaster begins.

  4. I have a love/hate relationship with my cgms. I love it when the readings match my meter…hate it at all other times.

  5. I hate set change days and break out into a sweat each time I have to do it. I just started using the silhouettes after a bout of no delivery alarms with the quick sets. You’d think they’d make the serter a little more user friendly and less daunting. Could that needle be any longer!!!

  6. I avoid any food that will send my #'s skyrocketing. I don’t eat pasta, pizza, any sweets, or anything that is too high carb or high fat. Yes, I’m on a pump, but I don’t want to deal with the highs later.

  7. I am currently trying to conceive my first child at age 37. I had always avoided even thinking about it, because I was told long ago that I would probably never have children. With a lot of hard work, I have gotten my a1c’s down in the 6’s, and have gotten my endo’s blessing. It’s hard…right now I am testing my sugars post meals as if I were pregnant to see if I am in range. I worry about being able to have such tight control throughout, and worry about the other scary things that could happen if i slip. I have been reassured countless times by every doctor I’ve spoken with regrding this issue, but it still scares me a lot.

  8. I set my alarm at intervals throughout the night to test my sugars…I fear going to low overnight or getting too high.

  9. Most of the people I know have type 2 or gestational diabetes. While we have areas where we are very different, the struggles we face are the same. They fear going too low, or too high. Having a common cold can throw their bg out of whack, just like me. They didn’t ask for or cause this disease any more than I did.

  10. This site has really helped me to realize that there are so many people out there who feel how I am feeling, and fighting the same fight that I do every day.

Thank you for starting such a great thread.

Rick, I love your post script. I hope you never stop eating those flipping oranges.

Di, it’s okay if you don’t do this perfectly. You’re already way more than good enough - I hope you realize that. My gut tells me that you’ll have a beautiful healthy baby. My sister-in-law had her last child at 39 and my grandmother was 41 or 42 when she had my aunt (oops!).

I think the canula insertion would scare me too. Shots seem do-able because of the short needles but I’ve kind of wondered what it would feel like to stick a canula under my skin. I’m thinking something stronger than ouch . . .

Like other who posted here, I’m thinking of Melitta, I’m a LADA - diagnosed late in life (age 47) first as a Type II and then a Type I. I was treated with oral medication, diet and exercise at first, but eventually switched to insulin after my doctor nagged me to do it for six months. I thought that using insulin made me a failure and bad diabetic. Even WITH diabetes I was stubborn and ignorant - which I think makes me a little more patient with some of the ignorant - er - ill-informed comments that I hear.

The one thing I would like to say to all people with diabetes, and especially to those who remember life without diabetes, is that every single one of us that has decided to take control has had to make drastic changes in our lifestyles. This is true whether we are T1, T2, LADA or T15. No, we didn’t have to go into a witness protection program, but we have had to rethink and act upon everything we do - what we eat, when we eat, what we buy at the grocery store, whether we exercise, when, how and how much, remembering to take our medicine, remembering to monitor our bodies - paying attention to a hundred little things that we once ran on automatic. That’s what we all have in common - we all have to pay attention. All the time.

That’s what I would also like to be able to explain to non-diabetics about diabetes; having to pay attention all the time. Their lack of empathy stems, in part, from the fact that diabetes isn’t visible and doesn’t hurt. It’s only visible if we make it visible, and then it’s an imposition. I have tried to come up with a decent metaphor to explain what it means to have to pay attention all the time. One that seems to work it to ask people to imagine that they’re driving a car across the country that has no gas gauge and no gas cap. In fact, no car they ever drive will ever have a gauge or a cap. In addition, there’s a penalty for overfilling the tank, but you don’t know what it is. Unless they get out an look once in awhile, they’ll never know if they have enough gas to get to the next stop, wherever that may be. Unless you fill the tank carefully, you may get an overfill penalty. I don’t know if that works for you, but I tried using it once and it seemed to get the point across.

The other thing I’d like non-diabetics to understand is that diabetes motivates much of what I do. One of my brothers once asked how I stayed motivated to stick to my exercise program. (I’m kinda religious about it.) I don’t know what he was expecting to hear, but I’m sure he wasn’t expecting me to say “Because i don’t want my feet to fall off.”

Well. I don’t.

Di, except for the pregnancy part, this sounds like me!

Two things I did that helped me get off the rollercoaster were to 1) slow down and 2) check the snacks.

Slowing down means not constantly adjusting and readjusting basal rates and the like. I don’t chase my meter readings to match my CGM anymore. I don’t expect them to match, I’m just happy when they do, and use the CGM only to tell if i’m rising or falling. I took a sytematic approach to testing my basals (see John Walsh’s book on “Pumping Insulin” or on-line descriptions for testing basal rates and adjusting them accordingly.) It also means trying as best as possible to settle into a routine of what I eat and when I exercise. Not rigidly, but as close as possible every day.

As for snacks, I now focus more on what I’m snacking on by using more fruits, vegetables and nuts, and by bolusing for the snacks.

As for carb counting and portion estimating, use your hand. the end of your thumb is a teaspoon. Your hand without the fingers is three ounces of beef, a handful of sand is about 1/2 cup, a fist is a full cup. Check this out - http://education.wichita.edu/caduceus/examples/servings/handy_reminders.htm - you’ll get the hang of it.

Hang in there, Di.

#1 reminded me of my biggest struggle with diabetes.
Diagnosed as a child, my parents didn’t want me to miss out on anything. As a result, I grew up using a really haphazard version of carb counting (total guesstimating) and a sliding dosage scale. That was all before commercial carb listing came into existence. The switch over to precision has been a constant struggle! My brain knows that going lower-carb is better for me and that fast-acting carbs are not my friends, and that really slow-acting carbs are also not my friends! Unfortunately, my tastebuds, stomach, and lifestyle make it difficult to put that knowledge into action.

I feel overwhelmed by guilt. I am fat, so I fit the stereotype that diabetics are fat. I become extra defensive when people say that, because I was an average kid. I get on my soap-box to proclaim that, indeed, T1s CAN eat anything as long as they dose for it. I proclaim that because if I don’t, they’ll go on believing that diabetics can’t eat sugar. Period.
I often feel like such a hypocrite because I feel so passionately about how the world sees and treats diabetics, yet I don’t carry that same passion into my own diabetes management.

I would love to hear from people who’ve come back from the point of unmotivated apathy. I need to know that it can be done, and how…