I wish i had known

Type 2
#1

I HAVE BEEN A DIABETIC FOR 6 YEARS. I overcame my own shock of my diagnosis. Learned about it so I could teach family members about it. A lot of information out there and it can be overwhelming and depressing.

I know what it is like to have my glucose levels too high or too low. Over a year ago, no one told me what it was like to go from steady higher levels to lower levels. For days I was trembling with chills and sweats although my levels were not bad. NO ONE REALLY TOLD ME THIS WOULD HAPPEN.

CHANGES IN NEEDS NOT THOUGHT OF BEFORE-- I have gained some weight after my insulin has worked it's magic. I have had to be working on a new wardrobe with larger sizes.

A double sink area does not have enough space for all of my things and my medical supplies I need daily. I need a lot of counter space and storage now. I try to keep my supplies in the guest bathroom so my husband will have some space. I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD NEED SO MUCH BATHROOM SPACE.

I AM SURE THERE ARE MORE SURPRISES AND ADJUSTMENTS AHEAD. I just hope I can think of a lot of them before the issues arise.

WHAT ARE SOME THINGS YOU WISHED YOU HAD KNOWN ABOUT OR EDUCATED ABOUT WHEN YOUR DIAGNOSIS AND/OR TREATMENT STARTED?

#2

Great question and you've come to the right place!....I'm not insulin dependent yet, but anticipate that I will be soon.....

I wish I knew that my Dad was T2---but in my family, we never talked about "that".....I wish I'd known that carbs were my enemy---or that they even mattered....I wish I'd known that Diabetes rules your life once it is diagnosed.....

In short: I wish I'd known anything at all about Diabetes!....Blessings!

#3

The symptoms of Type 2 diabetes.

It cannot be cured BUT it can be controlled.

It's not my fault.

Other things not covered above.

#4

Yeah, Deb, the false hypo thing can be very worrying if no one's told you what's going on, or to expect it. Fortunately, I was properly informed, my endo wanted to bring my sugars down gradually (over weeks) to avoid it, but I decided to go "commando" and just power through it 'cause I wanted my BG "normal" right away, as soon as I made the decision to start insulin.

It was a tough 3 days or so, which I'm sure you can relate to. However, I felt sooooo much better afterward that I have no regrets dealing with the withdrawal from my sugar jonesin'.

#5

I wish I had known that I would live this long. Doctors scared the living daylights out of my parents when I was 9 year old. One minute they said I wouldn't graduate from high school, the next they would say a cure was bound to happen in my lifetime. I wish they would have told me I could do whatever I set my mind to. In stead, I had to find out for myself. But, I'm ok with that. It's made me a strong person that I'm proud to be.

#6

Well, I'm not Type 2, but I wish I had never been told that I could "eat whatever I wanted" (exact words spoken by the nurse) when I went on the pump at the age of 25. That messed me up for YEARS even though I'd been diabetic for over 15 years at that point. Tell a 25-year-old university student who has had a very restricted diet most of her life that she can eat whatever she wants and what do you think she'll do?!?! I tried all kind of stuff I'd never eaten before! But I gained weight and gained a sweet tooth, and now that I've reversed my thinking (I can't eat whatever I want - not if I want to get an A1c better than the 7s) it's very hard to "go back" on. I wish instead I'd been told that I still had to be strict with diet and exercise but would have more freedom with my schedule and could maybe get an A1c in the 6s for the first time in my life.

#7

Hi Judith, I do lighten my memories a bit because a month before my diagnosis, I was in Venice Italy, with my dear Aunt fussing at me because I was dripping gelato on my shirt after a gondola ride. I am really glad though, I got to enjoy that pleasure before being diagnosed...oh and that goes for the pasta dishes too.

We must always live our lives with Diabetes but our lives are not over but we are changed after our diagnosis. I can only imagine how it was for my Uncle to learn he had terminal lung cancer. He still fights the beast and is my hero.

#8

Very true! It is not our fault. And just how can someone think that a Type 2 is supposed to look a certain way or that we are inactive and eat all the wrong things? One day people will be better educated...I pray.

#9

Ahhh! Someone I can call my brother! My husband was asking me what was wrong and I could not tell him because I did not know. I do feel a lot better and can sleep through the night without my kidneys working overtime. Congrats Dave on your big step too!

#10

sometimes it is hard to find one who can strengthen you more than yourself. I still struggle with the opinions of others altering my self confidence in pursuing my dreams. I want to prove them all wrong and will die trying :-)

#11

Not all the educated folk have common sense. I have seen that in walks of all forms of the higher educated people. One doctor once told me there was nothing wrong with my gall bladder. After 6 months of pain, horrendous acid reflux, and internal bleeding, I was angry. I had the signs and symptoms so I told another doctor he had only 2 weeks to find out what was wrong with me or I was going to Duke University Medical Center. After 1.5 weeks they found I had a non-functional gall bladder. I would have died if I had stayed with that doctor that kept saying I had nothing wrong. Sometimes we are our best defender.
congrats on your new A1C!!!

#12

Sadly, telling Type 1s on pumps (or MDI) that they can eat whatever they want is pretty common. The same CDE who told me that told me years later than now that they have CGMs they are finding that this advice isn't true ... but that doesn't help the thousands of people who have been told it.

And sadly my A1c is still in the 7s even though I'm very controlled with what I eat. Hoping redoubling efforts and using a CGM if I can afford one will help change that ...

#13

OMG yes, I hear you Deb... I had classic symptoms of gallstones every month or two for almost a year before they figured out what was wrong - I can't even tell you how many theories they came up with and tests they made me do. In retrospect it should have been SO obvious in an instant to anyone who'd ever seen gallbladder issues.

And then - because I'm in Canada - they told me it would be another 6-12 months before I could have it removed "because it's not as serious as cancer". At this point I was in the emergency room 1-2 times a week on morphine for the pain. Ridiculous. After 3 months of weekly emergency room visits and learning to become the biggest squeaky wheel imaginable and begging every doctor who would listen, I finally had the surgery - and voila - problem solved.

#14

Yes!!! The pain was shaking my soul to the core! All symptoms where there and presented. When they went to perform a gall bladder functioning test the dye showed in most every organ except my gall bladder. Doctors need education about this problem! It can kill so I see it as important as cancer. Pathology said had lesions inside from the bile sitting in it. Sorry to hear you had so many problems Dee. We are sisters in that respect!