Hello Joshua:
I too like his style, but I’ll be damned if I understand how his experience is possible…Never had a low before? In fifty years…
Stuart
Hello Sean:
With the utmost respect I am confident this has zero to do with “slacking”. Fifty years, first month won’t matter. We can do our best, be vigilant obsessive even and still the disease will try and hurt us whether we are watching it or not!
Too many things to watch, too many possible factors to have textbook control in the real world. Having said that I cannot help but admire DC Reporter… but it is a perspective that is literally “alien” to me. I hope in time to understand
I wear the scars of body and mind… a fight that I fear will never end
Stuart
Very true, Marps… very true…
I cannot say I’ve had diabetes as long as DC has. Far from it. This year I will reach my 15th anniversary with the disease.
While my time is less than 1/3 of his, I too, share share similar experiences. In the 14 years I’ve been living with this disease, I’ve never been hospitalized (outside of my initial diagnosis w/ a BG of 999). I have also never passed out from a low, nor have I had a seizure. I think with the lifestyle that DC reportedly leads (watching what he eats, staying active, etc) I think it is more than reasonable that he has never suffered from extreme hyper or hypoglycemia.
DC, I don’t know if ‘better’ is the right term, but I would agree that I think I might be a better person for having this disease. No doubt when I was younger I went through the angst and anger stage of ‘why me’, but I’ve moved well past that now. I have taken control of the disease and I have never let it stand in my way from achieving any goal that I wanted.
As far as the diabetic memories are concerned, I think I hold onto the bad ones because they disrupt the normal ebb and flow of life so much more than the good ones. Getting a great A1c for example, does not stick with me nearly as long as having a sweaty, hunger-filled low that wakes me up in the middle of the night.
Hi Stuart,
DC Reporter may want to reply to that one, but I don’t think he said he’s never had a low, but has never been incapacitated by one. If incapacitated means blacked out, I think that’s possible.
Joshua
I hold onto mine, though I’m not too sure I’m comfortable talking about them, which is sad in itself, the fact that you and your wife are so close and can communicate well is just a good sign of your relationship, that’s the answer & that in itself is invaluable.
Hello Joshua:
Excellent point, I gladly stand corrected!
Stuart
Hello Kain:
Thank you for sharing. And it is ok…
Once upon a time, I too was not easily able to talk about my diabetes stuff… (or anything else for that matter) now, you can’t shut me up! Sometimes my pretty wife can quietly shuush me with a kiss and a loving smile, sometimes she needs to chase me with a samurai sword to get me to listen (as I should).
Time gives us a voice I think… merely my opinion, I could surely be mistaken
.
Stuart
I have been afflicted with Diabetes for 52 years since the age of 3. Do I have “bad” memories" yes I do. Do I have “Good” memories yes I do. It is all in your mind. When I was 4 I met Dr. Elliot P. Joslin at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston Ma. To me that was good. His side kick Dr. Priscilla White tended to me while I and my parents were there. I remember it like it was yersterday. That memory has been fuel for me to continue on my quest to survive. My daughter was diagnosed in 2006 at the age of 23. My mission is to whipe of diabetes in her life time and hopefully mine. I am a Board of Director of the CT chapter of JDRF and am fully engaged in the progress of a cure.
I soon will have a web site on JDRF for “Our” walk for a cure in September. Look me up.
Ray
Hello Ray:
If you have a bad low, do you get visited by “ghosts of lows” past?
Stuart
I remember some really bad lows but don’t let it hold me back from living. If I did that I wouldn’t be in my 51st year of living with D. I remember them to hopefully not make whatever mistake brought me to that misstep.
I get rid of my low memories. I refuse to think about them.
The problem is I have a husband who brings up “when you had a low when we were playing Scrabble” or “you had a low when you were shredding”. So my memory losing has to be coupled with taking sufficient glucose tabs that he doesn’t know about ANY lows.
Then I will have comPLETE
memory loss!!!
Ok, being they are negative, unpleasant things why do we all apparently hold onto them this way???
I rid myself of unpleasant things rather than keep giving them power or bringing them back to mock and remind me of “ghosts” long past.
Stuart.
Stuart
I think it’s a natural human way of being to remember and to, at times, regret. Not to dwell, but to remember.
I remember my really bad experiences because they were a HUGE part of my life- and of who I am today.
I remember that I’m strong enough to pull through, that I’m brave enough not to quit, that I have the love and support of those who love me and stuck by me and take care of me when I absolutely need it.
Without the “bad”, then there is no "good."
My memories are the Joker. And I guess that makes me Batman.
Hello Leo2::
“Ghosts of Lows Past” wording I choose pretty carefully…
Their ghosts, our past…
How prey tell do you ignore them effectively… given these "ghosts’ are often not called by us at all. We were there but do not remember the events nearly as well as they do?
Stuart
Stuart, I have only had three “pass out” lows and seizures that I can remember… And they were pretty scary, so I do not think about them a lot, but I won’t forget them either. I have had other unpleasant memories that have had nothing to do with diabetes, and I do mull not them around either. I just find it more beneficial to count my overabundance of good memories and blessings, rather than rehash yesterday’s mishaps, mistakes and misfortunes. As I have said on other postings, “Today is the first day of the rest of your life” Live it like it is!!
I do not have many diabetic low "ghost whisperers’,’ who want to recount such memories to me except for a couple of relatives… I tell,them, with just hint of sarcasm, How I really appreciate their having such good memories and consider it so WONDERFUL that they choose to remember my past so fully. “You are so concerned about me that you can’t wait to revisit MY low glucose experiences to the exclusion of other topics, about yourself or other family fun stuff; How unselfish!”. Now that I think about it, such rehashes of my lows I have not occurred since I so “sweetly” told them how I really was “flattered” (LOL)
God Bless,
Brunetta
Hello Brunetta:
If you had that ability Brunetta, to erase their memory from all existance I mean, would you? Those who are “ghost whisperers”, chained to our past (ancient or modern) do love OUR ghosts too well…
"…How I really appreciate their having such good memories and consider it so WONDERFUL that they choose to remember my past so fully. “You are so concerned about me that you can’t wait to revisit MY low glucose experiences to the exclusion of other topics, about yourself or other family fun stuff; How unselfish!..”.
Oh that is GOOOOOOOOOOD… may I use it… pretty please?
I do not actively recall them, they are many in number and often old. Yet when ambushed by a low “today”, one in the “right now”… the strange memories rise from their ancient graves. I do not understand how they come to visit
They were not invited by me! So I ask if others too have this strange phenomina…
Researchers have studied why people remember some things and not others, and found that all people better remember experiences that take place when their emotional state is high. This makes sense for human evolution - i.e. it’s good to remember the details of when a tiger almost ate you so it won’t happen again, but it’s also good to forget the details of the thousands of times you brush your teeth.
One of the symptoms of a bad low BG for me is fear - extreme fear if I let it go to the point that I’m about to start shaking. So it is natural and normal to remember these times. That doesn’t mean you have to dwell on them - but it would be abnormal if they didn’t make a memorable impression on you.
oh yes… i remember particular instances. once in the market after thanksgiving, and it was years ago. i passed right out in the aisle. it was embarrassing and scary. had to call my husband to come get me. i remember thinking, before passing out, i could feel it coming on and kept saying to myself ‘hold on, just get thru this check out line’ but i couldnt. the manager was bringing me all sorts of things from the bakery, in an effort to bring me around and even wanted to dial 911 but i recovered o.k. i remember someone bringing me orange juice. i remember lots of times, so yes speaking just for myself i do remember those bad times…
Wow. I am shocked, and I almost hope you are kidding.
The abbreviation ‘e.g’ means “for example,” and it is short for the Latin phrase “exempli gratia” which literally means “for the sake of an example” or more colloquially, “for example.”
The abbreviation ‘i.e.’ is short for the Latin phrase “id est” and it means “that is.”
The authority with which you state your (incorrect) definitions is alarming in that others might actually find your position tenable and adopt it…