I really like being Diabetic because...

therower said:

@Snapsy . That line for this morning is very very similar to my stroke pattern on the rowing machine.

Im with you.
When i was diagnosed even the nurse said your not bothered in the slightest are you.
And i wasn't, adapt and overcome.
Its not the end of the world.


@catapillar . I've said it before and I'll say it again. " I really like you ". Irrespective of your executionery tendencies


I always feel a bit awkward answering this type of question. I don't want to appear arrogant or insensitive to others, but I really don't mind this diabetes stuff. When I was diagnosed it felt like I had been given a reason, focus or purpose to become a better person. ( I wasn't a bad person ). I was just going through life aimlessly and negatively.
I was fortunate to be able to embrace my diabetes, work with it and use it to my own benefit.
Unlike others my diabetes has been a blessing, albeit in disguise .

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therower said:

@Snapsy . That line for this morning is very very similar to my stroke pattern on the rowing machine.


@catapillar . I've said it before and I'll say it again. " I really like you ". Irrespective of your executionery tendencies


I always feel a bit awkward answering this type of question. I don't want to appear arrogant or insensitive to others, but I really don't mind this diabetes stuff. When I was diagnosed it felt like I had been given a reason, focus or purpose to become a better person. ( I wasn't a bad person ). I was just going through life aimlessly and negatively.
I was fortunate to be able to embrace my diabetes, work with it and use it to my own benefit.
Unlike others my diabetes has been a blessing, albeit in disguise .

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AdamJames said:

That's a big one that occurred to me recently.

I don't need insulin yet, I'm fortunate to have Type 2 which I can just about keep under control using natural methods if I'm *very* disciplined with food and exercise, in spite of being diagnosed about 3 years ago. That's not to say it's easy, in fact I'd stopped trying to control it for a year, practically ignoring it, and my health took a tumble, huge HbA1c score and constant fatigue; that lapse has quite probably knocked years off my life and put me at much higher risk of all the complications, but right now it seems if I get very disciplined again, I can still avoid medication for now.

But it did make me think about the "what about if/when I can't manage this" and just how grateful I was to know that there are brilliant people out there who have worked out the mysteries of the human body and have given us things like metformin and insulin.

BTW I read one of your posts probably over a year ago well before I joined this forum (just today) and it floored me with just what you are having to deal with. It made me realise just how trivial, currently, my own health problems are. All things are relative.

I try to avoid the "other people have got it worse than me, so be happy" thought process however, because it's a bit perverse when you think about it. It reminds me of that (mis)quote "Whenever I feel sad, I cheer up when I think of that woman who had her face ripped off by a monkey".

So the insulin one is nice: That's 100% positive.

Today what I like most about being diabetic is that I got to see a picture of a lovely dog

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Aaaw, thank you so much.

Brought tears to my eyes... xx

Chowie said:

Hey Guys,
We really have so much to grateful for. It's coming up to Christmas, lets come up with a list of whats great about being Diabetic.
I will give you a few examples.
I'm glad I'm Diabetic because I now see a really good Dr at least twice a year, so if any other problems start they will be onto it much faster than pre D visits of once every 3 or 5 years.

Out of all the horrible illnesses out there, I think that by and large armed with our insulin pens or pumps we are really lucky.

I ate out tonight as I finished work really late. This guy about mid 30's shuffled in on 2 walking sticks with bowed legs and a twisted back, I had just given myself a discrete bolus, I thought WOW, I'm glad I have Diabetes...

Why are you glad you have Diabetes...

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Hi Chowie, You can have my diabetes if you like, then you can be even gladder.. & I'll be glad too!!!

Always a reason to be thankful if you look for it. Focusing on the negatives won't help anyone, especially yourself https://type1bri.com/thank-you-diabetes

I spent a life of running around for people. When I questioned my sister about it she said, "Well you shouldn't be so damned handy". I looked at other people for a solution to this problem and they always had an excuse why they couldn't attend something or do something or go somewhere.

Now, when the hangers on phone, I say I have diabetes and they stop in their tracks. Then I tell them I have to pee every five minutes so couldn't possibly go to their party or gathering if I don't wish to. Furthermore I have avoided driving people wherever they wish to go since I told them I have a curfew due to a cataract and I can't see at night.

I now have excuses just like the people who I could have used before. I like it.

Type1Bri said:

Always a reason to be thankful if you look for it. Focusing on the negatives won't help anyone, especially yourself https://type1bri.com/thank-you-diabetes

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What a very thought-provoking blog post, @Type1Bri - wow!

Always try to look on the bright side - we can feel smug about eating healthy and [ hopefully] not gaining pounds over the festivities .

I'm glad I have diabetes because with this disease I am {to some extent) able to control it. I can still do the things I love like walk. I can breath with my own lungs, smile and laugh. I can lay around in bed if I want to but I can also get up unaided. I'm glad that this is what I got diagnosed with as apposed to something else. May I wish you all the very best. x

I am certainly not glad i have it. It has changed so many aspects of my life and i would do anything to be free of it, but.....im glad i have it in a time where there is treatment, research, knowledge and control.

Hello, well I think it’s each to there own! Yep it can be controlled and you can lead a normal’ish life but for some it can cause just as much heart ache as some of the more debilitating diseases....................

I’m not happy or grateful at all. It rules my life. Timers set all day long. Take your insulin, set timer for prebolus. Remember when I last ate, what time of day it is to figure out when I need my next bolus. Can’t set a lunch or dinner time with friends as every day, meal time and bolus times change. Constantly watching the clock so I don’t forget to bolus and eat or I’ll just rise. Tired of being rigid every day all day. My boluses only last 2 hours, then I rise. It’s hard to fit bolus, prebolus and eating with a full day of back to back clients. I’m tired of not being sure of myself. Im tired of having anxiety going over to friends houses for dinner and not knowing what they’re serving. Then trying to figure out how much insulin to take. Im angry I wasn’t dxd earlier and I should have never gotten so sick. If I didn’t get that sick I would be much stronger today. Some days I’m just tired.

I recently heard the doc that missed my DX passed away. Not necessarily happy and grateful but not necessarily not happy and grateful.

That being said, I am thankful and grateful I have timers on my phone and iPad!!

Most days I plod along with no problem but some days...

<sarcasm> I enjoy T2 as much as I enjoy my COPD and AFib.</sarcasm>

Sorry, not enthusiastic about it...

I really like being diabetic because.......
Nope can't think of anything I like about it. In fact I detest being diabetic....over 58000 injections (since 1972). Losing the sight in my left eye....Stage 4 CKD.
Glad to see so many positive posts BUT for me there is nothing I like about it

Most of the time I don't 'like' or 'dislike' having diabetes, it just is. It's what I got in the lottery. Just sometimes, though, I do actively feel either cheerful or ranting about it.
The times when a slightly low bs gives everything I see a beautiful significance and glow are truly wonderful. Wish that happened more often!
The times when bs are seemingly untameable and the possible causes multiply and I feel worse than crook (from the Gaelic - means slaughtered I think) are awful.
And I'm alive. Modern medicine's great!

I have to admit it is what it is - it's here to stay, like it or lump it, I would love to not have it as it would mean being able to focus on other priorities like family and work without D getting in the way of either. I've stopped analysing the future and what might be, and so concentrate on one day at a time. I am fitter than i've ever been, run, cycle, swim, I use the pump and libre and am lucky I can use both. I have experienced life fully as a non D and so do reminisce as to what life was like, but also accept this is life now, acceptance is a huge aspect of managing D and staying well.

becca59 said:

I’m neither glad nor upset. It is what it is. Long term I think we will be a lot healthier than the general public who eat and drink to their hearts content without thought for what they are doing to their bodies. We have to think about what we are putting into our bodies on a daily basis. Like @Chowie who witnessed the guy with sticks and bowed back, which meant limited mobility. I think of my 33 year old sister in law, who died of breast cancer leaving 3 children under 7 including an 11 month old. Bet she would have swapped places with me like a shot. I myself lost 4 pregnancies in my younger days. It is all part of life. We pick ourselves up and carry on.

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Hi
whatever happens in life, we'd picked ourselves up and carry on.
We all have this condition so called 'Diabetes '
I was diagnosed when pregnant 18 years ago

I am able to care foryourself now where as I couldn't before ( breath feeding brought up my daughter).
I was lucky to come across a consultant whose has an interest in his patients.He treats each of us ad individual. He had me did the blood test ( gene) and I have MODY.
I am now on low carb diet and have been for the last 5 weeks now.
I feel so much better no longer feel heavy in stomach although I lost 2 kg ( I am just under 5 ' height) and not over weigh.
Best of all. The result of my blood test, I no longer need the insulin but will be control by gliclazide 20.mg. The appointment to see my GP is not untill 9 January 2018.

Take care of yourself,
PS in my case I keep all the record of diet, exercises and blood test routines to show the health care professionals when I have a yearly review. I've found
Dr and nurses show their full support.
Never let Diatese beats you: you stay in control.
OOP: wish me luck ( I need it) :just signed up to SWIM 22 miles for Diabetic UK. That's in February next year.

Dow-jai 001.

I see too many "un diabetics" that are ruining their health through ignorance or not giving a ****. So I am thankful and grateful that the knowledge I have gained I have also enabled my hubby to take better care of himself... he would have ignored his health and just carried on if it wasnt my knowledge gained from looking at blood tests and analysing them etc... so I amthankful and grateful for the knowledge that T1 diabetes has brought me.

I have blood records going back decades now.. so even today I can take copies in to my breast cancer Profsssor and prove that things are changing.. I wouldnt have had those records without Diabetes.

I have a friend with no bowel, no bladder and has to have nuses each morning at 3am and 6-8 carers everyday.. she cannot move her feet and chronic pain and hands clamped shut. Due to technology she is still independent and she has a space age van that still allows her to drive.
The only meals she has had in over a decade are microwave ones as carers dont have time to cook a meal.. so now I cook some meals and cakes for her.
She can still feed herself but has to buy a special wrap around spoon/fork that others have to put on for her and has to go to bed at 8.50 each night because thats the carers slot time..oh yes and deaf in one ear from an operation.

So there is a lot worse... at least the majority of all diabetics can choose to cook meals and still work and not rely upon extra support.

Crikey, it may not be liking it... but we are still able to be in control of our bodies and living...

When life changes so dramatically as youngsters for us, we should consider others that also are hit young by serious life changing health problems.

Having mindfulness and empathy for others... I know I would have not been so caring for others if I hadnt had T1..

I am Pre-Diabetic but am glad that this got spotted in my annual blood test. I have the chance to turn it around if I haven't already. Being diagnosed as having high sugars helped me find this forum by accident and at last found the right diet to lose some weight as with the Eatwell and healthy plate it was just not happening. I am also lucky to have found people on here who have given and giving me great advice in what foods to eat and what foods to keep away from. I am glad that high sugars were spotted because I have a heart condition and if I go on to have diabetes this would put me at a high risk of having another heart attack. One thing though everybody...If anything else goes wrong with our engines it will be picked up early as we are in touch with our dr's and we are getting fine tuning so to speak. There are millions of people walking around with not a care in the world with health issues that they do not know about, they could be a ticking time bomb, whereas we are being kept an eye on and have more chance of prevention.

I like having diabetes as it allows me to do my job. I work as a diabetes youth worker and being able to connect with the kids I work with really makes me feel like I'm making a difference.

I don't like having diabetes for all the usual reasons. Mainly because it's a massive pain in the behind!

I like what others have said: there are far worse conditions to have, and I count my lucky stars that I've got one of the 'better' ones.

It's all about positive mental attitude. If and when you can muster it up.

Jeremy_Wood said:

I like having diabetes as it allows me to do my job. I work as a diabetes youth worker and being able to connect with the kids I work with really makes me feel like I'm making a difference.

I don't like having diabetes for all the usual reasons. Mainly because it's a massive pain in the behind!

I like what others have said: there are far worse conditions to have, and I count my lucky stars that I've got one of the 'better' ones.

It's all about positive mental attitude. If and when you can muster it up.

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Helping others gives such reward. Well done you! I try to educate patients through belinging as a volunteer to a patients participation group at our GP, drafting Newsletters to patients and had one gentleman made aware and saved his life of an aortic aneuryism thanks to a newsletter telling men to get the free check at 65...

Helping others in community for social activity has helped enormously too. I have helped to set up a table tennis social activity club. Members from 35-83!! And so many laughs each week. We are in stitches...

I have otger health issues and T1 made me more aware of helping myself and not relying upon the "specialists". For that I will always be thankful.

I have two siblings, and they have no health issues. Out of us, I can genuinely say I am the kindest and do more community help than they. I actually am ashamed that they have full health and do nothing to help others with anything.

So yes, I also believe that I have grown to be a better person due to health issues. Not due to religion or politics but from bring me!!