Diabetes Blog Week: Mantras & More

I’m participating in Diabetes Blog Week this week.I’m hoping these prompts will re-inspire my writing and encourage lots of blood sugar checks 🙂

Today’s Topic: Yesterday we opened up about how diabetes can bring us down. Today let’s share what gets us through a hard day.  Or more specifically, a hard diabetes day.  Is there something positive you tell yourself?  Are there mantras that you fall back on to get you through?  Is there something specific you do when your mood needs a boost?  Maybe we’ve done that and we can help others do it too? (Thanks to Meri of Our Diabetic Life for suggesting this topic.)

Let me start off by saying this: some days, I give in to the negative. I let myself wallow in being pissed off at my blood sugars, or the fact that I have diabetes at all. Letting myself feel these things is healing in and of itself. It’s nice to let myself recognize that this really does suck.

BUT, I like to think of myself as a positive person. I was dealt this card for a reason. Everything happens for a reason. I was handed this because I have the ability to deal with it. And I will. I chose my blog name because I think it is really important to take things one unit at a time. Each hour, hell, each minute is a new opportunity to start fresh and make new goals. Will diabetes always cooperate? No. But we can sure as hell try to make it. I’m a firm believer that happiness is a choice. We get to decide if we are going to let something break us. We get to choose happiness, if we want it (not always an easy thing, I know).

Is it hard, sometimes, to try to convince myself to look at the positive? Fuck yes. So I do things to distract me from the negative. Yoga. Drink a nice beer. Go for a walk with my dog. Hug my dog. Hug my husband. Watch a funny movie. Read a book.

Sometimes, I just have to fake a smile until I believe it.

Keep smiling. Choose happiness. Take life one unit at a time.

my daily reminder.

i think i can. i know i can.

I’m not really doing National Health Blog Post Month (30 posts in 30 days) this year, but I have been admiring some of the prompts, so I’d like to participate when I can.

Day 2 prompt (see.. I can’t even get to the prompts on the right day!) was this:

Write 3 lines that start with “I think I can…”

Then write 3 lines that start with “I know I can…”

I think I can always choose happiness.
I think I can do anything I put my mind to (with diabetes).
I think I can look at each blood sugar as a chance to maintain or improve.

I know I can always choose happiness.
I know I can do anything I put my mind to (even with diabetes).
I know I can look at each blood sugar as a chance to maintain or improve.

I just didn’t feel right about doing separate “I think I cans” (see “I know I can” #2).

ALSO, Diabetes Month Photo A Day. I’m behind.
Day 2 (check). Beautiful morning bike ride with the loves of my life? Check.

Day 3 (snack). Cheating a bit and enjoying a deeee-licious buffalo chicken dip snack with friends and football. I always forget to take pictures before snack/meal is halfway gone.

being proud.

Yesterday’s post was all about how nervous I was to go to my quarterly endo appointment (answers to my list of questions coming soon). I’ve been feeling really unorganized as far as my diabetes was concerned, and I just knew my a1c would show it. I’ve worked REALLY hard the past couple of years to finally get my a1c to stay in the 7’s and then in the 6’s. Last appointment I went from 6.1 to 6.3, and I was OK with that. What I didn’t want to happen at yesterday’s appointment was to feel like all of my previous work was for nothing. I didn’t want to see an a1c in the 7’s again — NOT because an a1c in the 7’s is bad, by all means, pat yourself on the freakin’ back if you’re there — but because I would have felt like I was starting all over again on the ‘i’m going to lower my a1c to below 7’ train.

(Let me say it again. You should be so proud if you have an a1c in the 7’s. You should be so proud if you are happy with your a1c number. You should be so proud if you are working on a number you are not happy with. You are working on YOU every day, and YOU SHOULD BE PROUD OF THAT. Each day is a new day. Each test is a new test. My personal mantra is that we are all doing the best we can, with what we have, at any given time. YOUR a1c DOES NOT DEFINE YOU, please never let it. One unit at a time, kay?)

So, when my wonderful, fabulous, amazing endo walked in to the appointment room and asked me how I was doing, I replied with a monotone “I’m OK.”

“Five-nine?” She said.

OK. Is she stating my current blood sugar in mmol? Did the nurse write my height as 5’9″ instead of 5’0″?

I sat there for a minute, probably with my mouth open – and she pointed at the computer screen. “I’m not reading that wrong, am I? It says a1c = 5.9%, right? Are you upset?”

I’m still in shock. And not totally convinced that I’m not anemic and therefore producing a false result (she assured me it’s correct and I’m not anemic). But holy crap, I’m going to let myself me proud of that.

Accomplishments, Big & Small – #DBlog Week, Day 4

We don’t always realize it, but each one of us had come a long way since diabetes first came into our life. It doesn’t matter if it’s been 5 weeks, 5 years or 50 years, you’ve done something outstanding diabetes-wise. So today let’s share the greatest accomplishment you’ve made in terms of dealing with your (or your loved one’s) diabetes. No accomplishment is too big or too small – think about self-acceptance, something you’ve mastered (pump / exercise / diet / etc.), making a tough care decision (finding a new endo or support group / choosing to use or not use a technology / etc.). (Thanks to Hilary of Rainie and Me for this topic suggestion.)

I’ve had type 1 diabetes for almost 16 years now. Hanging out with friends last night, we were discussing the importance of self affirmation and seeking out the positives within yourself. So instead of picking just one accomplishment, I’ll name a few small ones.

• Accepting my diabetes, and almost becoming proud of it on some days.
• Not being afraid to tell people about my disease.
• Starting the insulin pump, trying new pumps (scary), and starting on two different CGMs.
• Sticking with a daily routine. There was a time in my life I rarely tested my sugar. Now it’s odd if I test like than 6-8 times, sometimes more.
• Finally getting my A1C to hang out in the 6’s.
• Living almost 16 years complication free.
• Finding a new endo when I felt I was outgrowing my old one.
• Standing up for myself to medical professionals, insurance companies, and strangers.
• Starting my blog.
• Seeking out the support of others with diabetes.
• Simply put – just making my health a top priority in my life. It sounds so easy, but it just wasn’t the case for me for a while.

to be mindful, to be aware.

I’m participating in WEGO Health’s National Health Blog Post Month (#NHBPM) during the month of November. I’ll be writing 30 posts in 30 days based on the prompts they supply. Learn more here. Wish me luck!

Today’s prompt: “Be mindful. Write about what helps you stay centered in the present…” (editors note: I strayed from the prompt just a bit.)

As a person with Type 1 Diabetes, it is SO important to be mindful.. to be present in the current moment. No need to constantly dwell on the past or the future. I know there are times where I need to think about why my blood sugar was the way it was, or what it might be after I eat dinner, but I need learn to focus a little more on the present. Otherwise, I’m going to drive myself crazy. It’s not helpful for my state of mind to only focus on what my sugars have been, or what they might be in two hours after I’ve already taken my meal bolus. What I need to spend my energy on is the here and now, and what to do about my state of health at this current point in time – no matter what I’m feeling at the current time – confusion, happiness, sadness, etc. The important thing is that I am aware.

I don’t really have too much to say about being mindful, as it’s something that I don’t practice enough. Maybe a few quotes will help?

“Without mindful awareness, the shadows of your past may haunt your present.” – Reuben Lowe

“Look not mournfully into the past, it comes not back again. Wisely improve the present, it is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future without fear and with a manly heart.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (editors note: a womanly heart will work just fine, if not better, for meeting shadowy futures.)

“Life is a great and wondrous mystery, and the only thing we know that we have for sure is what is right here and right now. Don’t miss it.” – Leo Buscgalia

“It’s being here now that’s important. There’s no past and there’s no future. Time is a very misleading thing. All there is ever, is the now. We can gain experience from the past, but we can’t relive it; and we can hope for the future, but we don’t know if there is one.” – George Harrison

And my favorite, so far, as pertaining to diabetes:

“Live your life each day as you would climb a mountain. An occasional glance towards the summit keeps the goal in mind, but many beautiful scenes are to be observed from each new vantage point.” – Harold B. Melchart