It's hard to imagine our life before diabetes. Yes, that was only almost 6 short years ago, but a lot has happened and changed since then. We've become accustomed with this 'New life' if you want to call it that, and now it seems that we don't know any different.
If you are newly diagnosed it may seem strange to hear me say we don’t know any different, but it’s true. There will come a time when it seems like diabetes has taken a backseat to life. Let that one sink in a moment because for many diabetes is center stage. But it doesn’t always have to be.
Yes, you will take it with you wherever you go if you are the one with diabetes or your child will, but that doesn’t mean that everything you do has to center around having diabetes. You don’t want to live your life like this believe me. In order to be happy with a chronic illness like diabetes it takes acceptance. Acceptance is the first step in learning to live with diabetes and actually getting along with it.
That sounds weird to be coming out of my mouth believe me, you can get along with diabetes? This chick is crazy! But really, I’m not. You can learn to become accustomed to your new lifestyle in a way that things get comfortable and seem normal once again. It may take some time. Some people have a hard time coming to the acceptance stage, and guess what that is okay, because everyone is different. Everyone has to move at their own pace, you cannot force anyone to accept something they are not ready to accept. But once they do, life will seem vastly different and they will be happy they did.
Other People’s Normal Vs Our Normal
We may be the 'odd guys out, or the odd balls' in comparison to another people's norm. We count carbs, we inject insulin, we don't sleep quite as much as everyone, 8 hours a day recommended, HA that's kind of a joke in our life. But to us it's normal.
We understand the terms bolus, basal, temp basal, SWAG, Carbs, Subcutaneously, Beta Cells, Islets of Langerhans, rage bolus, etc., etc. Talking percentages, grams, proteins, fats, weighing food, sick 6th sense of looking at food and just knowing the 'carbs'. But again to us that is normal.
When we are out in public, we are the ones getting the stares, the judgmental looks as to why we're pricking our child's finger and testing his blood sugar. You know the looks, the oh my he must have eaten too much sugar as a child, I can't believe they are doing that to him, I couldn't do that to my child, the nerve of them to do that in a public place, OMG they are making him bleed in front of me. Those looks 😉 But to us it's just the norm, our "NEW LIFE".
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I don't have a bitter taste in my mouth for diabetes anymore. I've accepted that D will probably always be an aspect of our life, but it doesn't have to be on center stage hogging all the attention. Yes, it's a serious chronic illness that we'll battle day in day out, hour to hour, minute to minute. But why should we make it the only thing our lives revolve around? If you haven't accepted Diabetes into your life yet, I ask that you move past your 'old life' and accept with open arms your 'new life'. Why? Because it's not until you grab diabetes by the hand and realize you are in this together that you can live day to day without hate in your heart for a disease that shook up your lives to their core.
Accept your new life and live it to its fullest. You cannot be held back by your disease unless you allow yourself to be.
TheDiabetesCouncil Article | Reviewed by Dr. Christine Traxler MD on June 01, 2020
