You’d actually be wrong…
I DO have trouble being a Type 2 Diabetic.
I HAVE made progress.
My introduction to diabetes came from an old friend of mine who had (what was then called) Juvenile Onset Diabetes. It’s called Type 1 today. He was a bit younger than me, but we got close and shared lots of frustrations, joys, and A LOT OF LAUGHTER. He was funny and could make me laugh. I was funny enough to make HIM laugh. We were close enough that he was eventually the Best Man in Liz’ and my wedding almost 40 years-ago.
A year later, he died. He suffocated when he got lodged sideways in his and his wife’s water bed after having a diabetic seizure. He’d managed to get himself twisted around between the bag and the sides of the bed (it was an old-fashioned “sack of water” bed so that the bag covered his face…I clearly remember the phone call from his wife. Our first-born was pretty close to newborn; we were living in a crappy half-underground apartment that had a GREAT view of the knees-down-to-the-tennis-shoes of anyone walking past our apartment building.
“Greg died,” she said.
As details came out, I became even MORE terrified of diabetes than I was before that.
Ten-or-so-years-ago, I was diagnosed as a Type 2 diabetic. I ignored it at first, but because I was married and had two kids, two in-laws, and three grandchildren. I had a career I was enjoying with prestige, making contributions to society, and feeling like I was making a difference in the lives of the kids I worked with. Retired now, both my wife and I are type 2 diabetics…and there I go again, “identifying myself by my condition”.
That’s probably been the HARDEST part of this whole journey. I AM NOT MY TYPE 2 DIABETES! But I still fall into that whole idea that I AM my diabetes. It’s something I can’t seem to shake for more than a day or two. I let myself be defined by it…don’t get me wrong, I am acutely aware of (and now accustomed to) some of the limitations Type 2 places on me, particularly in what I can and can’t eat…like I can’t have a DQ Peanut buster parfait every day! I can’t eat a bag of chocolate chip cookies in one sitting. I can’t ignore exercising (at least not ALL the time). I can’t dread doing calisthenics (though I REFUSE to do them by either biking every-other-day (spring through fall) or walking every-other-day (winter…which in Minnesota is October through March/April). So…I HAVE altered my behaviors and turned the adaptations into things I don’t MIND doing. I don’t eat exactly the same as I did as a teenager or young adult…but I can still eat most things – as long as I don’t gorge on them or have them every day.
Have I allowed my Type 2 to identify me? Hmmm…yes, to a certain degree. Am I more cautious about what I eat, how much, and how often? Yes, that’s for certain. Am I miserable?
Hmmm…I’m NOT carefree anymore. But that didn’t answer the question. I’m NOT miserable! My weight is reasonable (Shortly after I was diagnosed Type 2, I weighed in at something around 23 pounds, and my blood sugar was 189 (with an occasional foray into the 200’s). As of this morning, I weighed in at 228.6 and my blood sugar was 141 (often below that…)…
Have I died? Well, aside from the fact that I’ll be 70 years old next May, I feel fine! And by making SOME changes and creating new habits, I’ve managed to get my blood sugars (and blood pressure and weight) under better control than it was BEFORE the effort. Oh, I’m MUCH happier about my prospects in life! (The goal now is to see ALL FOUR of my grandchildren married!
…so there you go…
Links: https://diabetes.org/health-wellness/mental-health
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