@rachy0121 title "I hate this disease" brought back alot of memories for me. This is a summary of my life with diabetes and how i try and live with diabetes.
I was diagnosed 39 years ago this April. I was 4 at the time. I lived through so many advances but the only one i ever truly wanted to see was a cure. I hated diabetes, I rebelled. I struck out. I got depressed. I just got down right angry.
As a child - parents too frightened to let you do anything on your own, just feeling different .Every adult watching you - no thought for your privacy. Teacher asking, "Mark, are you ok?" in front of the whole class. My parents or parents of friends doing the same out on the street.
As a teenager - jaysus the hormones - the angry really shines through. Rebelling. Anger that it was me that "got it" - there is no trace of diabetes on either side of my family other than me. WHY ME! WHY THE HELL DID IT HAVE TO BE ME!
As a young adult - I made a decision. This disease ends here. This ends with me. I would never be a father. Guilt & fear were the reasons. How could i look my child in the eye and tell them "I gave you this." Worse still, what would they say back to me? I always imagined the worst.
Thankfully, meeting my wife changed my whole perspective on the diabetes. She has alot more sense than me. We have two kids 10 and 7. Neither have it. On saying that, i will never forgot the fear that possessed me waiting for their arrival. It was totally selfish but i just had to know, needed to know, they didn't have it. I still over react. Are they drinking too much, are they going to the toilet too much, are they more lethargic than they should be. I don't know why I am so obsessed about this but the guilt i would feel terrifies me.
My wife thinks I'm nuts. She keeps telling me if it happens so be it and that I turned out alright - I guess that's the rational world colliding with the emotional world!
So, my appraoch to Diabetes now is based on 2 mantra's. My approach may sound naff or downright ridiculous but this is how i deal with it because the resentment i had towards the diabetes was eating me up.
1. LIFE IS NOT FAIR
That is not a complaint. It's a fact. No one promised you it was, you just assume it should be. It isn't. You are what you are and that is what you are in control of. There is no happily ever after where you get kissed by a princess and hey presto you don't have diabetes anymore. My anger stemmed from "WHY ME". The answer is "LIFE IS NOT FAIR". So, when i calm down (I still get angry) i go back to what i have control over. My diabetes.
2. My Body is like a needy child!
I stopped looking at my diabetes as some object or as something i hated. It was part of me. It was part of who I am. I decided to work with My Body (and it's malfunctioning pancreas) to do the best we could to manage the diabetes. I changed my focus from hating the daibetes to helping my body feel good.
If you ignore a child, it will throw tantrums. It will do whatever it takes to get your attention. If you look after them and care for them, they become less needy, less irritable. They become your friend. Kids can annoy you, they can send you around the bend but with proper love, care and attention they are an awful lot easier to be around!
Don't focus on the anger and hatred you have towards the diabetes when things go wrong - it just drains you and once drained you'll still have it! Focus on helping your body - you and your body as team - to manage the diabetes. You'll have lots of fights along the way but ultimately, you and your needy child want the same thing!
Sorry for the very long ramble but i found this oddly theraputic!