https://type2diabetestreatment.net/diabetes-mellitus/hello-diabetes-blog-week-2017-plus-prepping-for-the-unexpected/
Welcome to another round of Diabetes Blog Week!
It"s the 8th consecutive year of this initiative, bringing together our vocal D-community to rally around the same topic each day for a week running.
You may remember that this effort was spearheaded by fellow type 1 Karen Graffeo in Connecticut who blogs at Bitter-Sweet Diabetes. Karen created this annual week-long blog carnival as a way for multitudes of D-bloggers (now more than 100 participating each year!) to create an unprecedented sharing of perspectives on issues relating to our illness. You can learn more about this effort, and sign up yourself if interested, here.
As of mid-Sunday there were 80+ people from around the world signed up to participate this week, and more typically jump on board once D-Blog Week kicks off. Exciting to see so many voices sharing their POVs on each day"s topic!
Since it"s clear that not everyone has their own blog, this is also a great opportunity to feature and read guest posts as well. And don"t worry, a blog isn"t even necessarily these days, as the wonderful world of Facebook and Twitter has made it possible to include even more voices -- as long as they include the hashtag #DBlogWeek!
To kick off the week, today"s topic is the following:
Diabetes and The Unexpected
"Diabetes can sometimes... toss out unexpected challenges at random. What are your best tips for being prepared when the unexpected happens? Or, take this topic another way and tell us about some good things diabetes has brought into your, or your loved one’s, life that you never could have expected?"
Great prompt!
Here are our thoughts for your Monday reading pleasure...
Amy"s Troubleshooting Approach
To my mind, living with diabetes is all about the unexpected. As anyone with type 1 knows, you can do the same thing (eat the same carbs, take the same dose, engage in the same activity) from one day to the next and your BG does not play along! Levels can be wildly different despite our best efforts.
So to me, life with diabetes is a lifetime of constant TROUBLESHOOTING. We"re constantly calculating, correcting, experimenting with different choices and techniques to improve our BG control and well-being. While it can be maddening that our best efforts don"t always carry over into fool-proof methodologies, being a good troubleshooter is one of the most important qualities you can master! (Just ask Entrepreneur magazine).
I"ve found that thinking about diabetes management this way also does away with a lot of the stress and feelings of failure, because it erases the expectations that you should "have it down by now." Of course there"s no perfect BG control methodology! Of course even the most diligent of us struggle with BG swings. So instead of trying to perfect your diabetes management skills per se, I would recommend working on your troubleshooting skills. Here"s at least one good guide on how to think like a master troubleshooter.
Mike"s Coping Tips
Here"s how I handle the constant influx of the unexpected with diabetes:
Role with the punches: I try not to get 100% tied to any particular action or regimen, except for the obvious that I have to take insulin, work to keep my BG levels in range, and watch out for and treat lows. But I try to keep an open mind and be flexible on the D-tech I use -- which sometimes changes at a moment"s notice, as can my reliance on various types of insulin or other medications. Whether these changes are initiated by crazy insurance coverage policies or other circumstances, I try to remain as adaptable as possible. I"ve been fortunate, for sure. But on the other hand I"ve been doing this since I was 5, and I try to always keep in mind what I learned early on: Plan for the Worst, but Hope for the Best.
Little help from my friends: This DOC (Diabetes Online Community) is an incredible resource, and when times have been toughest for me -- whether specific to diabetes or not -- I have found good people willing and able to help. I try to return that favor as much as possible, too.
Keeping perspective: Never forget that there was once a time referred to as the "Diabetes Dark Ages," back in the "70s and before, when technology and treatments were not anywhere close to what we have now. So yes, while we are facing some serious affordability and access issues these days, that seem to be getting worse for so many, sometimes I find it personally helpful to just step back and reflect on how things used to be. It"s a good reminder to balance out the negative a bit. This doesn"t always work, but it"s helped on some occasions.
Appreciating the good stuff: I also try to concentrate on being grateful for so much -- professional development thanks to DiabetesMine; countless friendships within the DOC; constant learning; and being able to better cope with my own personal mental health woes that surfaced a number of years ago (and since May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a shout-out to everyone dealing with that!).
So those are our thoughts. We look forward to hearing more from around the DOC. And if you have anything to add here, please let us know in the comments below!
To take part in D-Blog Week yourself, or read other posts and share your POV, be sure to follow the Facebook page, or hashtag #DBlogWeek.
Happy D-Blog Week, All!
Disclaimer: Content created by the Diabetes Mine team. For more details click here.Disclaimer
This content is created for Diabetes Mine, a consumer health blog focused on the diabetes community. The content is not medically reviewed and doesn"t adhere to Healthline"s editorial guidelines. For more information about Healthline"s partnership with Diabetes Mine, please click here.
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