Me and Diabetes: Part Two

It took many months for me to deal with the news of having diabetes.  My emotions were all over the place.  I was angry, confused, depressed, perplexed and frustrated.  I had to change my lifestyle and develope a new routine.  I had to learn by trial and error how different foods affected my blood sugar.  Pricking my finger 7 times a day, writing down everything I ate and taking daily medication became my new normal.  I didn't like it and I fought it every step of the way. 

It has become easier over the years but it has never been easy.  Just when you have it figured out and blood sugars are under control, it changes.  You have to start all over again with the testing, and figuring out which foods are causing the problems, and what dose or which of the newest drugs are going to work best.  It never ends and it's always a struggle.

I wish I could say I do everything right all the time, but I don't.  I go through periods of rebellion and act like I don't  have diabetes.  I'll eat whatever I want to and not test my blood.  But then I eventually get back on track and do it right til the next time I get tired of doing it and rebel again.  I know my doctors get frustrated with me but I get frustrated with this disease!

Almost 3 years ago I started on insulin.  I give myself a shot 4 times a day...once before each meal and one at bed time.  I went through all the same feelings and emotions as I did when I was first diagnosed.  I also felt like I had done something wrong.  Diabetes is a progressive disease and the doctor assured me it wasn't my fault.  As much as I hated giving myself shots, I noticed right away that I felt better and my numbers came down eventually.  It took several months to find the right dose of insulin, and it continues to change.  I'm considering using the insulin pump which would take the place of shots.  There are pros and cons to both, but I will probably switch over.

In tomorrow's post I'll share some myths about diabetes and some do's and don'ts for those who have loved ones or friends with diabetes.

Me and Type 2 Diabetes: Part One

Today I am thankful for friends who uplift, encourage, are positive and accept me the way I am!

November is National Diabetes Month, so I thought I would share my story.  I found out that I had type 2 diabetes on October 21, 1997.  I was 39 years old.  I had a yeast infection that wouldn't go away with over the counter medication.  I was reading the label on the box and it said something along the lines of "if infection persists it may be a sign of diabetes".  I read that over and over and slowly began to realize just how many symptom of diabetes I had.

I had been very thirsty.  I couldn't get enough to drink.  I went to the bathroom about every 30 minutes.  I thought it was because I drank so much!  It turns out that a diabetic is thirsty because they pee so much!  I was extremely tired.  I felt like I couldn't get enough sleep.  I even took off work a week just to sleep.  It didn't help.  I almost couldn't function due to the fatigue.  I lost 10 pounds without even trying!  This was definitely not normal for me! 

I mulled all this over for about 2 hours and then called the doctor.  I told the nurse I had a yeast infection and she immediately wanted to call in a prescription for me.  I then told her I thought I might have diabetes and described the symptoms I was having.  She put me on hold, and then asked if I could come in that afternoon.

After taking my blood pressure, temperature, and asking a hundred questions, the nurse told me she was going to get a blood sample.  I thought she was going to "take" my blood, but that's not what she did.  She inserted a strip of what looked like shiny paper into the end of a handheld device.  With some kind of a needle she pricked my finger and held the device with the paper strip so that a drop of blood saturated the tip of the paper.  After a few seconds, she showed me a number that showed up on the device.  It was 425.

That number didn't mean anything to me so I asked the nurse what it meant.  She said my blood sugar was very high and that a normal reading would be between 70-100!  Next, she really took some blood and I waited for the doctor and the results of the blood test.  The name of the test was the A1C test.  Again, I didn't know what this meant so I waited.

The doctor came in and I had to tell her all over again my symptoms and why I thought I had diabetes.  She confirmed that I did.  The A1C tells you the average of your blood sugar levels over a 2-3 month period and mine showed that my average was 475, way over the 70-100 range! 

At that point I was bombarded with information packets, a referral to the dietician, a glucose meter, prescriptions and instructions!  I was overwhelmed to say the least and  more than a little scared!  Now it was time to go home and process all this information and come to terms with it.

In tomorrow's post, I'll tell you how I did that!