This week I am participating in Diabetes blog week which can be found on bittersweetdiabetes.com. Today's topic is listed below.
k for the Share and Don’t Share - Monday 5/13 Link List.
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? (Thanks to Melissa Lee of Sweetly Voiced for this topic suggestion.)
I know my Dr.'s really do have very limited time with me even with my increased amount of appointments. I know they are trying to figure out why my diabetes can be so crazy but honestly it has always been that way. The first thing I really wish they understood is that even trying my best my hypoglycemia unawareness seems to win most of the time/ I try my hardest to avoid lows except for running higher. I use my temp basal, use snacks, preplanned out my exercise with temp basal and snacks before hand. Sadly doing the following I can still end up being low in fact I spend most of my day attempting to avoid them but by the end of the day I have to admit at times I just give up with the reality that my hypoglycemia unawareness just means more lows. I do constanstly use my Dexcom data to help adjust basal but recently that has not helped because the data has been pretty skewed so I am having to look at my numbers and use my meters to find low patterns on my own. I have gotten pretty good at it these days.
The second thing is that I wish they knew how complicated my work can be when deal with my diabetes. I have a high stress low paying job that is really unforgiving at times. My work load I have been told really should be several people's job and there is never enough of me to go around. So this also can create an environment for lows which is less than ideal. I try my best to do what I can but sometimes how I deal with the stress can be very unpredictable and so I can only guess and run with it. I have really great A1c's but probably more lows than I should but honestly I am really prone to them these days and I honestly consider them part of my everyday life regardless of what the Dr.'s think. I know my Dr.'s would not be happy to hear I am comfortable with it but it has become part of something I just suck it up and deal with it, Mind you definition of a low is different than some. Anything below 80 is low to me. They have me run higher in the hopes I will get the feeling of some lows here and there. I currently might feel them occasionally but most of the time I get nothing until I am extremely low.
I guess I would not want my Dr.'s to know how much Chocolate I do eat but I could be eating something much worse than that these days. I am gluten free and since my diagnosis two years ago chocolate has become a bigger part of my life I have a couple pieces a day and it does not normally show up much on my pump or records so I feel like my little secret is safe with me. I know how to treat for it and I do milk chocolate and dark chocolate. So life is so much sweeter for me with a little chocolate here and there. I also part take now in a bolus worth items of gluten free cupcakes at a local bakery my PA actually told me about she is gluten free as well. I know she knows I go their occasionally and she told me that was completely fine but growing up with diabetes I remember the days when I was told no sugar. I used to sneak sugar because I was not supposed to but I really think I was doing what any normal kid would. The last thing I really wish they knew is how much work I spend in keeping things controlled as much as possible. I am always using all my tools to continually improve my control and keep myself seizure free and this is never an easy task. I just want them to know I am human and in no way perfect and unrealistic expectations never helps but only hurts me in the end.
k for the Share and Don’t Share - Monday 5/13 Link List.
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? (Thanks to Melissa Lee of Sweetly Voiced for this topic suggestion.)
I know my Dr.'s really do have very limited time with me even with my increased amount of appointments. I know they are trying to figure out why my diabetes can be so crazy but honestly it has always been that way. The first thing I really wish they understood is that even trying my best my hypoglycemia unawareness seems to win most of the time/ I try my hardest to avoid lows except for running higher. I use my temp basal, use snacks, preplanned out my exercise with temp basal and snacks before hand. Sadly doing the following I can still end up being low in fact I spend most of my day attempting to avoid them but by the end of the day I have to admit at times I just give up with the reality that my hypoglycemia unawareness just means more lows. I do constanstly use my Dexcom data to help adjust basal but recently that has not helped because the data has been pretty skewed so I am having to look at my numbers and use my meters to find low patterns on my own. I have gotten pretty good at it these days.
The second thing is that I wish they knew how complicated my work can be when deal with my diabetes. I have a high stress low paying job that is really unforgiving at times. My work load I have been told really should be several people's job and there is never enough of me to go around. So this also can create an environment for lows which is less than ideal. I try my best to do what I can but sometimes how I deal with the stress can be very unpredictable and so I can only guess and run with it. I have really great A1c's but probably more lows than I should but honestly I am really prone to them these days and I honestly consider them part of my everyday life regardless of what the Dr.'s think. I know my Dr.'s would not be happy to hear I am comfortable with it but it has become part of something I just suck it up and deal with it, Mind you definition of a low is different than some. Anything below 80 is low to me. They have me run higher in the hopes I will get the feeling of some lows here and there. I currently might feel them occasionally but most of the time I get nothing until I am extremely low.
I guess I would not want my Dr.'s to know how much Chocolate I do eat but I could be eating something much worse than that these days. I am gluten free and since my diagnosis two years ago chocolate has become a bigger part of my life I have a couple pieces a day and it does not normally show up much on my pump or records so I feel like my little secret is safe with me. I know how to treat for it and I do milk chocolate and dark chocolate. So life is so much sweeter for me with a little chocolate here and there. I also part take now in a bolus worth items of gluten free cupcakes at a local bakery my PA actually told me about she is gluten free as well. I know she knows I go their occasionally and she told me that was completely fine but growing up with diabetes I remember the days when I was told no sugar. I used to sneak sugar because I was not supposed to but I really think I was doing what any normal kid would. The last thing I really wish they knew is how much work I spend in keeping things controlled as much as possible. I am always using all my tools to continually improve my control and keep myself seizure free and this is never an easy task. I just want them to know I am human and in no way perfect and unrealistic expectations never helps but only hurts me in the end.
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