Just One Thing?
First a little housekeeping… if you didn’t check out the awesome blogs in yesterday’s post, you totally should. They’re called the Best of ‘Betes Blogs for a reason! You can start nominating for November now! (Well technically you could start four days ago.)
A lucky reader has been selected for my NatureBox giveaway! Check your email for a message from me to see if you won! If you didn’t win, don’t sweat it! You can still use the code SNACKTIME for half off your first box and I’m giving away something cool next week sometime.
One Thing
Everyone with diabetes has a different story, different treatment and there is no one-size fits all approach to diabetes treatment. Even with just Type 1, there are different types of insulin, some people use injections, some people use pumps and even then our meters, pumps and other equipment vary. We have different targets and have different insulin needs. For example, at breakfast I need 1 unit of insulin for every 9 grams of carbs that I eat (which is different from lunch, which is different from dinner for me) and another blogger with type 1 needs 1 unit of insulin for every 20 grams of carbs she eats.
So back to my contribution… I couldn’t pick just one thing and I couldn’t narrow it down to one sentence, so I gave them several thoughts and let them do the editing based on their other input. They made an excellent selection by using:
Diabetes has to be a factor in every decision I make.
I am more than my diabetes but I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 22 and I live with it 24/7, I don’t get a vacation and I have to consider diabetes when in everything from what and when I eat, when I sleep, when and how much I exercise, whether I’m going to get behind the wheel of a car… everything. (yes even what you’re probably wondering about)
I’m pretty open about living with diabetes, I talk about it occasionally and blog about it a lot. Because of that I think that sometimes people forget that I’m Rachel, a wife, daughter, sister, aunt, professional, etc. as well as a person with diabetes. I have a life that diabetes fits into, not diabetes that my life has to fit into. Even though diabetes is a factor in every decision, I’m more than my diabetes. When I was diagnosed, I didn’t stop being Rachel. I also didn’t stop liking chocolate or coffee.
One of the other things I was thinking when I responded is that what I wish people in general knew about diabetes is that they don’t know everything about diabetes. Diabetes varies so much from patient to patient and there are so many types (Type 1 like me, LADA or Type 1.5, Type 2, Gestational, etc.) that knowing about one person’s diabetes doesn’t mean they know about everyone who has diabetes. What works and doesn’t work in the way of medications, exercise, diet and treatment plans for a person with diabetes varies for everyone. It drives me crazy when people think they know what I should and shouldn’t do or eat with diabetes and try to give me a plate of fruit for dessert instead of what everyone else is having. (If you’ve read my blog for very long, you probably know that it really bugs me to be denied the same food everyone else if having… and that it’s happened to me on multiple occasions.)
It’s not right to expect someone without a connection to diabetes to know it all, but having at least a little knowledge and giving up the myths of diabetes important.
Check out what the other bloggers said here.
Rachel, you really hit the nail on the head. I relate completely to your feelings in this post. I’ve recently become open to talking about it, because quite frankly, trying to hide it was too much for me. However with that comes dealing with people who simply don’t understand the disease. I’m not quite sure why people assume they can say or act on a disease they clearly know nothing about. It can be infuriating. It’s something I struggle with all the time.
When you say that you are more than diabetes, I agree! We never stopped being us. I feel as though I’m rambling here but great post. I really see a lot of myself in this one. Look forward to the next one and thank you again for the Best of Betes’ Blog work 🙂
Not rambling! I love comments!
The Best Betes Blogs are hosted by various bloggers and I was just lucky to host the October ones. Sara at Momentsofwonderful.com is the wonderful coordinator who I got to work with.
I know but still thank you for hosting 🙂
Thank you for writing this! You summed it up so well, and I especially relate to diabetes being unique for every person. People don’t know what they don’t know! And maybe cinnamon bark cured someone’s uncle, their neighbor follows a “diabetic diet” and that lady at work was told by a podiatrist that diabetics shouldn’t run… but wow, those things are not true for all of us! I am going to be posting that awesome infographic to my blog this week!
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