I think the worse thing about diabetes -- besides the risk of blindness, kidney failure, liver damage, and of course, early death -- is that you don't get to take a day off. Your diabetes doesn't care if it's birthday and your best friend made you a cherry chip cake; it doesn't care if it's Thanksgiving and Aunt Edna's cranberry and mushroom dressing is super delicious; and it doesn't care if it's Christmas and you've waited all year for pumpkin cheesecake and you've been good and by St. Nicholas, you deserve a piece!Diabetes doesn't care. It doesn't give you a day off. If you break your diet, your blood sugar will soar no matter what your reasons are. Yes, you can have small indulgences, but that's it. And even those have to be factored in and carefully off set. There are no quick decisions with diabetes. Everything has a carb cost, and it has to be counted.
Diabetes is about control. Never ending vigilance. You have to plan and scheme and work and make the right choice every single time. It's no wonder that people give up. They get tired. They get worn by all the carb counting. Trying to decide if the side effects of the meds are worth their effects. Trying to stay up on the latest advances because they can't count on their doctor doing so. Choosing the right meds, the right diet, the right exercises, the right doctors, the right food ... Sometimes people give up.
I have at times. Sometimes it just overwhelms me. Sometimes I don't care. Sometimes I let diabetes win. It's not smart. It's not wise. It's because I'm only human, and I get worn.
But -- I made choice to live a long time ago. So I get back up, clean up my diet, get to walking and exercising, and I go on. It's like this: diabetes is a war. We're going to lose a few battles, suffer some setbacks, but we can and will win the war. Even though sometimes it feels like we're facing the worse thing.
(This post is part of the 2013 Blogging From A to Z April Challenge. Learn more about the Challenge HERE.)
2 comments:
Diabetes has ravaged my family, threatening the lives of two cousins, as well as my uncle in the last year. I'm pretty much on constant watch for it, and the doctors expect me to develop it. It's the first guess for every new ailment that pops up. A miserable condition, though thankfully more regulatable thanks to modern science.
It's the modern plague, John. And unlike other addictions, we can't go cold turkey on food. We can only try to find healthier choices.
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