Just curious how you view having to cope with diabetes. In simple would you consider it
1. A total nightmare that has turned your world upside down. You'd pay millions (if you had it) to be free
or
2. An inconvenience that can be a pain in the A. Ehhh things could be worse.
You may be in the middle somewhere but if you have to pick one which best describes your feelings. You know my feelings so I won't bother voting.
Definitely #2.
I am closer to #2. With caveats--there are times, especially with painful hypos, that I say, "I hate this f***ing disease." But it is also fascinating to observe my mind/emotional state, and see how I have adjusted (thus why it is #2 for me). I just have accepted that this is my life. I don't ever expect to see a cure for autoimmune diabetes in my lifetime; but I do hope for better technology that will improve my life. I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 35, so I vaguely remember life without T1 diabetes.
#2 I won't let it do anything else.
#2 for me also. I got over the resentment many years ago... life is too short. Of course, I have been known to say "I hate this!" over and over when treating a hard, fast low and pouring sugar liquids down my throat. Thankfully that's not often these days.
#2 , I have gotten past the #1 phase, and choose not to let the diabetes win...
For me #1. I've had complications the worst is neuropathy. No feeling in lowers legs and hands. Lost my job and now on disability. I type with one finger.
#2. While I hate this condition some days, it has given me a lot of positive things. I am highly organized (because you have to be when you always have to think ahead to what you'll be doing or will need D-wise in order to stay alive) and I'm definitely a lot stronger (physically and mentally) than others around me. I have coworkers who will take off from work for the tiniest sniffle or ache; I think because w T1D you never know how you're going to feel from minute-to-minute, you have to learn how to work through not feeling "great" and just persevere. I have also always been very athletic and having T1D has made me more in tune with my body and, in my opinion, a better athlete as a result. I have always had to work a bit harder in athletics than other people and, again, having D has made this easier for me.
Having T1D has also made me feel fortunate for the life that I have. Yes, I could say that it's not fair that I have type 1 diabetes and have to deal with all the crap it comes with, but it's also "not fair" that I'm white, well-educated, have a great job, have great health insurance, and never have to worry about where my insulin and pump supplies are coming from.
While I hate the idea of what this disease is doing to my body on a daily basis, I am so thankful that I have access to all the things that I need to stay on top of it. I only wish others living with D were so lucky.
#2
#2, what else can one do, obey the rules as far as one can, accept it & get on with life, but I would give a lot to get rid of it. Way before anything else like Celiac & arthritic fingers,
I would say #2, although I would call diabetes more than just an inconvenience. It's also not a nightmare. I am not one of those people who feels my life is better because of diabetes, though ... maybe someday.
I also think my answer would depend on my mood. Ask me a few weeks ago and I may have been closer to #1, but right now it's #2. So maybe somewhere in the middle.
I do think in the end it takes much less energy (and feels a lot better) to do the best you can and move on than to rail against something that can't be changed. Easier said than done sometimes, I know!
Maybe this is sort of T1 vs T2 thing, or a diagnosed as a child vs. diagnosed as an adult. As a T1 dx as a child, I am well-aware that a mere 90 years ago, I would have been dead because there was no insulin. Even 30 years ago, pumps and CGMs didn't exist and this meant poorer control and (generally speaking) a shorter lifespan.
I know T1D in particular can be really hard; believe me, there are days when I have a good cry about it because I can't get my BGs anywhere near range. But, then I think about what kids went through before the existence of insulin, or even what people went through when insulin was available, but inconsistent and there were no means by which to check BGs on a regular basis. When I think about things like that, it helps to put a lot of what it means to live with diabetes in perspective.
BTW, if you need perspective, read the book, "Breakthrough," which describes the discovery of insulin.
I agree, Breakthrough as well as The Discovery of Insulin (though this one is more about Banting, Best, et al.) and The Fight to Survive are all books that will make you VERY thankful you were not born before insulin was available. As much as diabetes sucks now, before insulin was available not only would you die but you would die an incredibly horrible death.
#1 at least right now. These adjustments constantly, highs lows, fading out of a honeymoon. when my numbers are stable I feel FANTASTIC..and sometimes I'm like, "OH, please just stay this way, stay at these good numbers..I feel so good." But, I (we) have to live, eat, breathe, walk, work and live..I'm still somewhat all over the place and the majority of the time I feel like crap. If you don't have your health...life sucks, if one feels like crap all the time, life sucks, and this disease is sucking the life right out of me right now. I'm hoping the pump will help and I'm hopeful and optimistic I well eventually get more stable. But, I'd give anything not to have this.
I'm the opposite of busted pancreas and I don't think about who may have suffered worse then me but look at the majority of the population that is completely free of this nasty SOB while my life is turned completely upside down from it. Almost everyday I wake up in complete anger as "here we go again". It's maddening to me to think all the years that have gone by since the discovery of insulin and we are still going through the same exact crap on a regular basis.
Is it "from it" or from something else? I know lots of people who don't have diabetes who are droopy, bummed out, have depression disorders and other varied and wide ranging psychological problems. At this time of year, Seasonal Affective Disorder is very common, holiday stress, end of year work stress, shorter days and colder weather for people in the northern hemisphere, all kinds of reasons to be depressed. Diabetes is one of many things that are challenging.
i tend to agree, gary. we just have better 'tools' but we're not closer to a cure, IMO. plus, all these frickin' tools; yes, they give us better control but can also drive us nuts because the RESULTS are right there in our face, high...low...fix it, wait..over corrected, under corrected..vicious frickin rollercoaster.
I really wouldn't care so much if it was JUST the shots and/or the attention this disease demands (weighing, measuring, blah, blah, blah) and at this point, I try too to not think about 'complications'...but it's the feeling like crap all the time. who in their right mind would want to have to manually control one of their organs, their frickin blood sugars. I often think this is cruel..Damned if you do, damned if you don't...and we, as type 1's..if we DON'T we die. There are tons of horrible diseases and many suffer, that's for sure...but this is a real big one and we have to self manage it, no one else!
#2
Things can always be worse but, when you'e dealing with diabetes, they could also have been a whole lot better. I don't credit diabetes with giving me anything positive. I've spent years working to manage this condition because that is what diabetes has forced me to do. We have an agreement. I do these things everyday and diabetes will allow me to lead a semi-normal life.
I try hard not to dwell on everything I could have spent my time and money on over the years if I didn't have to manage this condition.
This is not to say that I'm angry, or even bitter about having to do the things I have to do. I'm actually pretty neutral about the idea of having to stick, poke, and prod myself almost hourly. Taken individualy, each act I have to perform as part of my management program is really not that big of a deal to me. I just can't pretend to think, to myself, that I'm a better person than I would have been otherwise for having to do any of it.
I am extremely thankful, every hour of every day, that things are not worse because of my diabetes.
#2