D Blog Week: "Share and Don't Share"

It's D Blog week and I'm excited to be able to participate! D Blog week was created by Karen at Bitter Sweet Diabetes and it encourages participants to post everyday for the week of May 13 -19. There are prompts provided for us to discuss and a list is compiled on her blog so that people can get in touch with new bloggers and get varying ideas on a single topic.

I'm already a day behind so I need to catch up. This won't surprise the people that know me well.

Day 1's topic is "Share and Don't Share":

"Often our health care team only sees us for about 15 minutes several times a year, and they might not have a sense of what our lives are really like. Today, let’s pretend our medical team is reading our blogs. What do you wish they could see about your and/or your loved one's daily life with diabetes? On the other hand, what do you hope they don't see?"

I would have to say that overall, I'm pretty lucky with the health care team that I have. I've only had type 1 diabetes for a little over a year so I've really only seen my Endo and CDE a handful of times.

To my Endo, I would like to thank you for being understanding and realistic in terms of the goals we set when trying to manage my diabetes. I'm often harder on myself that anyone else, so I appreciate that you help me to keep my goals realistic when it comes to my A1C. I also appreciate that you've never pressured me to try and get off nights shifts at work. I love my job and being successful is important to me. You've helped me to find ways to do the things in life that I love, without letting diabetes run my life. I do my best with testing and staying on top of my diabetes, but some days I'm lazy with it. I would hate for you to see me not testing before some meals, or eating that bag of peanut M&M's knowing I probably didn't bolus enough for it.

When I got the diagnosis that I was officially a type 1, it was over the phone with my Endo on a saturday afternoon. The oral medications we were trying were not working and it was now imperative that I start on insulin immediately. That following Tuesday I met my CDE who walked me through absolutely everything there was to know about being insulin dependent. It was a long meeting and there was a whirlwind of information. I cried during that meeting with her, as I faced the reality that this was now going to be how I lived for the rest of my life. There was alot that scared me about being diabetic. I want to thank my CDE for being extremely understanding and open with me. For the first few months after my diagnosis I was in constant contact with her through email and phone calls and she has never made me feels rushed or like I was a bother to her.

I think I have it pretty good. I'm lucky to have a health care team that, although they don't live what I live everyday, they are very compassionate, and I appreciate that.