I am watching the Oprah show on diabetes and am scared for the first time in my life about this illness. I have always tried to be realistic with myself about it, but I have been lying to myself...covering my bad behavior with insulin and making excuses for my weight. I am sad because sometimes I feel like the diabetes is winning, but that is because I let it win. I fall into its trap. I don't feel sick, so what is the problem...carpal tunnel, neuropathy, excess weight, foot problems, infections...
I nned to do something...I need some help...I don't want to die early like my mother who was only 48 and lost her battle with weight when she had complications from gastric bypass...she died a horrible death...I want to be here longer than she was...for my nieces, my husband, even my dogs...where do I find the strength to do it, though? How do I do it?
I didn’t watch the Oprah show about diabetes, but from what I heard it was very negative. Just take good care of yourself, start with walking and eating better. Talk to your doctor about a diet plan that works for you. If you let diabetes get out of control there are many things that can go wrong, but you can’t focus on those what ifs, you should focus on living a happy healthy life. Good luck with everything, don’t listen to Oprah, she doesn’t know what we do about diabetes, she hasn’t lived it.
Thanks, Chrissy. I needed to hear what she said, though. It is a negative thing that I have not respected for the last 25 years, you know. My grandfather had both legs amputated…and I have not respected that information because I did not know him…I want to just stop it, you know. I want to live healthy. I am going to the dietician on Friday and i am hoping that I can really hear what she has to say. I am a very strong woman, you know. I have been through so much…why can’t i get a grip on this disease?
Wining against D needs a great amount of discipline and some sacrifice. Every one is different and so we need to tune ourselves accordingly. by taking better care u can only delay the onset of complications. i don’t think u can ever entirely avoid complications. You have good days and u will have bad days and you BS will eventually level out and so u will have a good A1c. But this is not good enough. Its very important to maintain BS with in range every day. Your control of D is only as good as your daily BS. So do not rely on your A1c. It can only tell you when some thing is wrong.
D reminds me of a line from Ocean’s 11. “The House will always win except when you get that perfect hand and bet real big and take the house down”.
In the game of D unlike Poker the table never gets cold.
I am a T1 since '92.
Think Like a Pancreas motivated me. Have you read that book? Good book for those on insuiln.
You know all of the things you need to be doing. Make a list. Tackle one item at a time. Master that, or get comfortable with it, and then move on to the next. Diabetes is so complicated that if we jump in with both feet when we are in deep water, we drown, and then we feel like failures and we just give up. Reward yourself for reaching each goal, if you need to. They should never be food related goals. though.
Get some good shoes. Walk a half hour a day. Work up to it if you can’t now. Weight Watchers says you should walk at least 10,000 steps a day. That is a pretty good thing to work up to.
Good luck. You will do well.
Thanks, everybody. Tanya, your plan is right on…I know that…and Chris, you are right as well. I just don’t want to ignore it until…and even though my last A1C was a 7.5 (or a 6.5?), that is not as good as it should be. i used to be a 12, so things have changed a lot since then…but it is not enough…I need to do better. My weight is always my biggest damn obstacle!! That belly fat has been a noose around my neck since…i was a baby even…I made a lot of changes in my life and have adjusted my eating a lot better than even last week, but I am always struggling with it. i just need to do it…go to the nutritionist on Friday…work out a plan…stop eating whatever is easy…walk, walk, walk…i even have 2 beautiful dogs who love to walk…and DO IT… I think i need an inner football coach or something…
i didn’t watch the show. dr oz just loves scaring the crap out of people, and i don’t think thats necessary. we all know diabetes causes blindness, kidney disease, leg amputations. what are the positive things we can do on a daily basis to move away from those complications?
while the dangers are real i don’t think for a moment that they are what we should be threatened with. living a good, strong, healthy life should be our goal. and, you can do that…
i need to remind myself almost daily to let go of the fear and reach for my health…that needs to be my focus.
hugs
Think like a Pancreas…I call it “The Diabetic Bible” Very good book for anyone with D (T1 or T2)
Thanks, Boedica…you have some very wise words here…I am taking them to heart…
I will have to pick that book up. You are the second person to recommend it to me, solobaricsrock…
Oh its a great book. No collection is complete without it.
My dad died from mulitple complications from diabetes. Because I watched the devastating effects of loosely controled diabetes first hand, I was motivated to work hard to keep mine under good control when I was diagnosed. Oprah’s show did scare the cr@p out of people. If it creates the motiviation for those who aren’t motiviated otherwise, then good on Oprah.
I agree that awareness is good, but scare tactics not so much. We live under constant threat of multiple complications. We know this to a point that we become numb to the effects of people telling us everyday. To that I say maybe a more positive aspects needs to be shown sometimes to reach those that cant be reached any other way…Just a thought.
See Doris, Im funny, yet deep!!! Its a lethal mix lol
You got it going on huh???
Oh I wouldnt go THAT far…blushes
the genetic history : you can do nothing about it
lifestyle: you can do heaps !
…like after a meal exercise gently for 10 min (this helps with insulin sensitivity).
listen to this to start with (on lifestyle changes)
http://www.diabetespowershow.com/DiabetesPowerShow___42.html
PS I am in Australia, and consequently have nothing to do with any of the groups in the link.
Good luck. You can do it (you must do it!)
All of your input has given me a lot to think about in regard to this illness. I guess I have always had the attitude that it doesn’t matter, because we all have to die of something. I might also be a little scared because when my mother made the decision that she wanted to live and fight against her weight and illnesses, she lost in a horrible, horrible manner. I am scared that just when I decide to try…that is when the diabetes will get me…but I also know that walking around in some kind of clueless fog doesn’t fix things either. Everybody has given me so much to begin to integrate into my own attitudes toward my illness. I have been trying to run ahead of the diabetes…but I know that, eventually, I will fall behind…
