Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Is it that much different?

How different is my life now than 5 years ago when I didn't have diabetes? Is there anything I can't do now or anything I don't trust doing because of my sugar readings?

Honestly, my life is not different for the most part. I have to eat right but so should everyone. I check my sugar about 10x a day. It doesn't hurt and only takes about 6 seconds so that is about one minute taken up there. I do a shot before or after each meal which takes about 1 minute to draw up the insulin and inject. About 5 shots a day - 6-7 on a bad day full of correction shots. So about 7 minutes taken on that. If I have a low sugar, I eat a snack. If I have a mind numbing low reading of 50 or below, I have to take time out to sit down and drink some juice. Usually about 15-30 minutes is taken for that but thankfully that doesn't happen too often. In total about 20 minutes or less is taken on my diabetes care throughout the day. And, I make sure I do NOT think about it constantly.

I can't think of anything that I do not do now that I did before because of my diabetes. I just have to be more cautious........amusement parks, vacationing, the beach, etc., are all activities I still enjoy.

It is unfortunate that anybody should get this disease, let alone any disease. But we are fortunate enough to have the means of controlling it and not letting it control us. It is our choice.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Eat at your own risk...

My diabetes hasn't given me anything to post about lately, which I guess is a good thing! I am thinking about switching my Lantus doses into two shots though. I have high numbers in the evening and towards morning which I end up taking more Humalog to cover. If I take 1/2 my dose in the morning, that should carry me through until bedtime, and then if I take the other 1/2 of my dose at bedtime that shoud carry me through morning? Kinda scares me to change anything up. Any advice from those who have done this?

I was reading yesterday about how much easier it is for a person with diabetes to live a more normal lifestyle because of the new insulins and devices we have today. I know that some who have had diabetes for a long time have a hard time grasping the idea that we can eat whatever we want as long as we dose for it. I would never say eat whatever you want, whenever you want but I think that the occasional sweet is a must have. It helps us keep our sanity (LOL) but I also think it actually helps us achieve better control by not making us think that certain foods are taboo. For me, if I think I absolutely cannot have a certain food - I want it more than ever! If I balance my diet and incorporate those foods such as sweets into my diet, I am not stressing out about it. And/or if I finally did get to have it, I wouldn't indulge and eat more than I should! Why can't sweets just be good for us? I want a carb-free chocolate chip cookie invented.