I just went to my diabetes doctor two days ago and I have been noticing how much I don’t try to take care of diabetes and or think about it. I pretty much just check my blood sugar, guess on my carbs, and program it into my pump. A question has been pondering my mind… What does managing your diabetes really mean and how do you do it?
The way I do is by setting goals–write it down, put it on the fridge and keep it there. I haven’t focused on an a1c goal in a while, more like body fat %, running distance, weight loss etc. and luckily the a1c is hovering almost near target.
And trust me, it’s taken forever. When I was newly diagnosed years ago, I was lazy. Still drank regular sodas, no exercise, lived like a normal sloth-y teenager. I lost mad weight, but it was due to that “diabulimia” phenomenon thing that’s in the news now–I didn’t have a psychological disorder, I was just ■■■■■■■ calories out because I was lazy and taking care of myself.
Now, it’s goals. And TESTING. Testing my BG was the thing I needed to wake up to most because I didn’t do it often. But you can’t monitor a disease without knowing what’s going on in your body, so I try to test as much as possible.
it’s a part of every minute of my life - a 3 legged balance act of insulin, food and activity… but it isn’t my life, I like to go out to eat, I like to have lazy days and I also like to bike and walk in the woods. I taught myself how to drink, eat pizza and cheesecake or for that matter whatever I wanted to learn how to eat. but it is a learning exercise. I stay active and I go to my docotor appointments, get my blood work, try new things and I am doing pg.
I wouldn’t call it “not taking care” if I have to guess at my carbs - hell I guess 2 meals out of 3 most days, but the 2 hour blood test after the guess is something I do.
compared to the non-affected I am thinking about the balancing act 1 zillion times more than they are, but after some time it’s almost … automatic? I dunno, maybe there’s a better word.
Management: the act of controlling the action, use, working; handle; guide; to have charge of, direct; to succeed in accomplishing.
Diabetes management entails controlling our actions and guiding them to accomplish a successful regime to control blood sugars and any future complicaitons.
You can see that this is mostly in our hands on how we “manage our sugars” by our eating and meds. Also involving exercise.
Some of us are better at one thing over another and only struggle with a portion of their care. But most of us struggle on and off with every area of diabetes management. The better the “management” of your disease, you will succeed in preventing future complications.
If you would like some input on complications that mismanagement can cause, please go to my profile page on this site. It will give you a little education and, hopefully, inspire you to prevent the inevitable consequences of mismanagement. Please feel free to contact me if you want to tak.
Lois La Rose
Milwaukee, WI
This is a vary good question. I have been told by everyone that i do a great job of manaaing my diabetes but now that you ask the question i am thinking i am a lot like you. I try my best to carb count but if it is a bit off i corect later. i am going to have to realy think about this and come up with my new game plan.
Thanks for the wake up call…
Let me know what you come up with.
Kasi, I can’t help but think you’re well on your way managing. Having a pump and checking your blood sugar is a big part of management. Managing is taking action after analyzing something. You might add one thing at a time. A record of your blood sugar, add exact carb grams, length of of exercise, attention to a tight target zone - say 90-110. You’re already doing it, aren’t you! Good for you! That A1c will even reduce further with a bit more attention to those carb grams! Love ya.
I am the mother of a six-year-old girl with diabetes, and two boys, ages 8 and 2. We have learned a ton, and I have often pondered your question. I don’t really have any better answers than what have been mentioned, but I do have a cute story about how ingrained testing BS can be. I was at an event with my family and we were getting ready to eat at the concession stand. I got the tester ready to test, reached over and grabbed “my daughter’s” hand, and tested her BS. When I looked over, I realized that I’d grabbed my two-year-old son’s hand and he looked at me like I was mad. He didn’t appreciate it, but I thought it was kind of funny!