Sunday, September 20, 2009

30 Things About My Invisible Illness You May Not Know

The outline was borrowed from a blogger friend Jerry's post: http://t1d-runner.blogspot.com/

30 Things About My Invisible Illness You May Not Know

1. The illness I live with is: Type 1 Diabetes

2. I was diagnosed with it in the year: 1992

3. But I had symptoms since: A solid 4-6 months prior, who knew going pee 5 times an hour wasn't normal! lol!

4. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is: Taking note over every food and drink I put into my body.

5. Most people assume: that I can't eat certain things and most of those things are items that no health conscious person should eat like little debbies. It's all about awareness. I'm aware and I can make it work so back off!

6. The hardest part about mornings are: waking up with a blood sugar that's way off, too high or too low. There's the frustration of trying to figure out what went wrong, but it also can throw your whole schedule off. A high blood sugar will mean that I shouldn't eat breakfast for a while. A low blood sugar will mean that I'll want to eat something right away. (I totally agree with Jerry here!)

7. My favorite medical TV show is: House. It intrigues me for two reasons, one, how can a Dr. that is so mean sometimes still be employed and two, how on earth do they figure out some of those cases!

8. A gadget I couldn’t live without is: Definitely my blood sugar meter and my insulin pump. I will be hard pressed to ever go back to multiple daily injections. I feel like that commercial, "life just got a little easier!".

9. The hardest part about nights is: trying to correctly judge what and when was the last time I ate. There's nothing like losing sleep because your blood sugar is too low and you have to get up and eat and 3am or your blood sugar runs high and your up every 45 minutes going to the bathroom until your insulin kicks in.

10. Each day I take blood sugars and insulin.

11. Regarding alternative treatments I: not an option here.

12. If I had to choose between an invisible illness or visible I would choose: hmm, i think the invisible one. You have more control over how it's delivered to strangers and people who don't know.

13. Regarding working and career: everyone is very understanding and proud of how I take charge and don't let diabetes run my life.

14. People would be surprised to know: how often I'm thinking about my blood sugar. (right on here as well Jerry)

15. The hardest thing to accept about my new reality has been: it's not new anymore. It's just plain reality. I can cry, complain or pout all I want but it will still be there in the end so I choose to accept it.

16. Something I never thought I could do with my illness that I did was: ride my bike so much! I love it and it keeps me healthy too!

17. The commercials about my illness: are not aimed at my demographic, there are usually in regards to Type 2 diabetes. I'm ok with this for two reasons, one, it's more prevalent and two, what people don't understand is that for a large majority of people weight loss can cure there Type 2 diabetes. There is no cure for Type 1 at this point in time.

18. Something I really miss doing since I was diagnosed is: not having to think so much about every bite or sip I take.

19. It was really hard to have to give up: I refuse to give anything up, I use awareness and moderation to keep my diabetes in check without having to sacrifice. Do I really need a whole elephant ear at the carnival or could I get by with a few bites?!?!?!

20. A new hobby I have taken up since my diagnosis is: cooking and baking! I love to do both! So much healthier too!

21. If I could have one day of feeling normal again I would: just relax and eat like there was no tomorrow, burgers and fries, steak, Boston cream pie, cheese cake, ... (Yep, I like your style here Jerry)

22. My illness has taught me: Never give up.

23. Want to know a secret? One thing people say that gets under my skin is:Should you be eating that? WTF!!!! Should you???? Get off my back.

24. But I love it when people: See me for who I am, not my disease.

25. My favorite motto, scripture, quote that gets me through tough times is:
I know it has to do with another Invisible Illness but: Livestrong. It means a lot if you think about it.

26. When someone is diagnosed I’d like to tell them: Embrace your diabetes, it's not going anywhere. If you try to fight it you'll only be killing yourself and that is just not worth it. The quicker you embrace it the better life will be!

27. Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is: My family needed to be just as educated as I did about how to control and manage diabetes. Let them be part of your "team".

28. The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn’t feeling well was: simply ask if I was ok and if I needed any help. Sometimes those simple questions go a long way. Please always be willing to extend your hand to those in need.

29. I’m involved with Invisible Illness Week because: I missed it, technically, but I'm always down for raising awareness! :)

30. The fact that you read this list makes me feel: Happy that you took the time to learn a little more about me! Thank you!!! :)

2 comments:

Kelly said...

Awesome post. I learned a lot!

Ashley said...

I'm 18 and i've been a type 1 diabetic only since i was 15. I really like how you said that you have to embrace it, because youre right... its not going anywhere! i still battle with the whole why me idea sometimes but hey... i guess it happens to the best of us!