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Permalink Reply by Theresa on September 24, 2011 at 9:58am

I think because it is constant - there is no light at the end of the tunnel. My hope is that my son just makes it a part of his daily life kind of like brushing his teeth. You just get up and get on with it. Good luck and May God bless you!

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Permalink Reply by Zoe on September 24, 2011 at 9:58am

Your description of your "good" weeks sounds a bit exhausting. Perhaps if you worked at managing your blood sugars, but didn't feel it had to be "perfect" you wouldn't then react by being "bad" and neglecting things entirely. Happy mediums prevent ping ponging from one extreme to the other....kind of like blood sugars!

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Permalink Reply by MyBustedPancreas on September 24, 2011 at 10:16am

It's hard because it's constant - we never get a break. You can't take a day off. But at the end of the day, only you can do it. It has to be a priority above all else - work, friends, family, etc. I see that you're in Australia and I don't know if you have something like the ADA we have here in America, but if you do and your employer isn't allowing you time to stop what you're doing to check your BGs, you need to have a conversation with someone who can assist. This is your life. I too have times at work when I get busy or am working with a group on something and don't feel I can interrupt what is going on to check my BGs. I have learned that I have to just excuse myself and do it, because the repercussions of not doing so are too serious.

Don't aim for perfection because perfection is impossible. Don't worry about counting and weighing carbs down the very gram. It's ok to swag (we all do it!) and use best estimates when determining how many carbs you're eating. The MORE important thing is that you're checking your BGs and using your pump (an awesome tool, BTW) to correct.

As for data uploading, my feeling is that if I can find time to sync my iphone and update my iTunes library, I can find time to upload my pump data. It's so easy (so much easier than the old way we used to have to keep logs), so there isn't too much of an excuse.

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Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on September 24, 2011 at 10:39am

The thing that always saved me was having hobbies and diversions I didn't want diabetes to get in the way of. When I was younger, it was partying and rock and roll, neither of which are recommended by the ADA but when you are bolusing at 2:00 AM to pound some more beer, it does wonders for dawn phenomenon! I had a few years where I got a bit aimless but then I started exercising as a mid-life crisis. Same thing, I want to work out enough that it motivates me to beat up diabetes, or at least keep a lid on it.

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Permalink Reply by Zoe on September 24, 2011 at 10:47am

I think AR makes a good point, that having other activities that you enjoy is really important. It almost doesn't matter if they're "good for" your diabetes or "bad for" your diabetes (within reason..lol) but the point is that they're good for you the whole person of which diabetes is only one small part. When diabetes starts to seem too big a part of my life I know it's time to look for other "goodies" (non-edible kind) that make me happy!

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Permalink Reply by Lila on September 24, 2011 at 11:18am

I wonder if it helps to not think of it as a battle. For me, it's just part of my routine. And life is all about routines. After all, most of us wouldn't dream of leaving the house in our pajamas, without having brushed our teeth. I have myopia and astigmatism, I wouldn't dream of leaving the house without putting on my contact lenses. Might it help to just think of all the diabetes stuff as part of your daily routine?

Routines can be added to or amended; I have a couple of Italian boys lodging with me at the moment and I have noticed they would never dream of leaving the house without straightening their hair and putting on hairspray...

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