Random thoughts and facts about type 2 diabetes and chronic disease.
Twenty-Five Random Things About Type 2 Diabetes and My Life with It:1. I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes after major surgery when I was 32 years-old.
2. Learning that I had gestational diabetes with my second son was one of the scariest days of my life.
3.Most people with type 2 diabetes are still able to produce insulin at diagnosis. However, the insulin they produce is unable to perform its primary job, which is helping the body's cells use glucose for energy. Usually this is due to a problem with the body’s insulin receptors, the location on cells where insulin binds so that glucose can enter. This condition is called insulin resistance.
4. Having type 2 diabetes has boosted my personal science IQ.
5. Most people with type 2 diabetes do require oral medications or insulin injections, of which, I require both.
6. I have a high predisposition towards Diabetes because 3 out of 4 grandparents had it and both of my parents have it.
7. When it comes to diabetes treatments, doctors don’t always have all the answers. Neither do nutritionists.
8. I am lucky to have some amazing doctors and nutritionists and Diabetic Nurses, but have had to be pro-active in finding them.
9. When people with diabetes are sick with a cold, flu, or other infection, it can cause blood glucose levels to climb. As well, people who have diabetes are vulnerable to nerve and vascular damage that can result in loss of protective sensation in the feet, poor circulation, and poor healing of foot ulcers.I have experienced this in a big way.
10. Managing a chronic disease can be extremely frustrating. There are the days when I know I have been “good” and yet my blood glucose readings refuse to acknowledge my sacrifice. Conversely, there are “bad” days when everything on the meter is just hunky-dory. Go figure. I can’t.
11.People with diabetes have won Olympic medals, held political office, climbed mountains, and made history. My goals are not quite that ambitious, however I do wish to live a long life :)
12. The older I get, the more inspired I am by people who remain doggedly optimistic about having a chronic condition.
13. I really, really miss eating sweets. Healthy eating with diabetes is not a life sentence to some rigid, deprivation-oriented menu plan -- the concept of a "diabetes diet" is mostly myth.
14. Every single day I work hard to make peace with my body.
15. Weight-loss is an ongoing battle for me and when I hear BMI my blood curdles!!
16. My fingers tingle when my sugar drops.
17. I still forget to carry glucose tabs and candy with me – not smart.
18. I'm grateful that Canada now pays for kid's medication and Diabetes supplies, including an insulin pump, but I wish they would lower the cost for adult Diabetics as well.
19. I worry that my kids might inherit a tendency towards depression and type 2 diabetes. Or my grandkids.
20. The obesity epidemic among kids in this country worries me.
21. If I could have one wish come true, it would be that kids would not have to suffer with this disease.
22. I’d love to give everyone in this country a free membership to a gym.
23. Diabetes remains a kind of mystery disease to most people based on the advice they give me on what to eat, when to eat, etc.
24. No two people with type 2 diabetes are the same. My diet is not your diet (another huge frustration at times).
25. I have type 2 diabetes, but it is not who I am.
