Fighting the Unseen: Life With Diabetes

Finish the sentence:

"I wish my doctors told me..."

I wish my doctors told me the honest truth: that I am the one in charge of my health, not them.

When I was first diagnosed, I listened so intently to my doctors' orders that I would put myself at risk all the time of overdosing insulin and more. I didn't realize, until about 19 years old (5 years after diagnosis) that I'm the one who knows my body the best- not them.

I wish my docs told me about the new technologies without my asking.

I do all of my own research now. If it weren't for my research, I'm sure I'd still be on two shots per day of NPH, mixed with Regular

I wish my docs told me that I can become resistant to insulin and that my dosages will increase... causing my weight to increase by association.

I'm not talking big pounds here (just ten or so) but for years I thought it was ME who was to blame. I thought that I'd suddenly started eating too much, or not exercising enough... when in reality I was doing everything the same as always... just I was taking more and more Levemir and Humalog... until I switched brands. I'm almost back to normal now.

I just felt so guilty for so long- I cried with relief when I found out it wasn't my fault.

I wish my docs told me how hard it was going to be every day.

They always gave the positive spin on it that it's really no big deal and that diabetics can live "normal" "healthy" lives.

But, no one told me that it's also completely NORMAL to have to struggle every day to get the dosages right- that almost EVERYTHING affects my BG and that I have to be proactive VS reactive.

If they had told me to expect it to be hard, I wouldn't feel so self-loathing when I just simply had a BAD day.

I wish the doctor had told me....about things that could have been done right away as a newly diagnosed adult.  Instead of me finding out about such treatmensts long after the fact when it was much, much too late.  Maybe i would have been saved all this suffering.

I agree.  I was just talking to Dr Denise Faustman from Boston.  She is doing a research study on people who have lived with T1D for years- as oppposed to only working with those who have been recently diagnosed.

I had some really great doctors when I was first diagnosed at 14 years old, but honestly, they didn't share NEARLY enough information with me.  I'm sure they were afraid of bombarding me with too much at once, but I ended up finding out a lot of stuff on my own- which was much harder had I been properly trained and informed earlier on.

i wish there's a cure seriously I'm so tired of all this . . .