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Permalink Reply by pancreaswanted on January 8, 2013 at 2:37pm

i was supposed to have been at a meeting at work when i had my D day rx appt. i called them and told them id be really late and id been diagnosed with t1. when i went in the next day, the secretary, who i hardly knew, told me that her best friend was t1 since she was 14, that shed told her best friend about me and her friend wanted me to know that i could do it, i really could. it didnt feel empowering at all then (just made me cry in front of the whole front office)but when things get really crap now with D, i think of it and repeat it. again and again and again.

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Permalink Reply by smileandnod on January 9, 2013 at 10:04am

This gave me goosebumps, pancreaswanted. Thank you for sharing. :)

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Permalink Reply by Deborah on January 8, 2013 at 2:38pm

Kudos to the post & thread. My original medical team told me I was a "poster child" for diabetes management. A number of people have commented on me acting as a role model.

Good to bear in mind, because, so often I focus on the all the little ways I'm less than compliant.

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Permalink Reply by Kate on January 8, 2013 at 4:18pm

I spent the first decade plus of living with diabetes pretty angry at it and I did the bare minimum to keep my mom and my endo happy. I was finally out of college and moved away from home when I found my first non-ped endo. He was mostly a sales guy for the Lantus solo star pen, but he kept his foot in the door with a practice. He only had night office hours, which worked for my killer work schedule.

From the get go, he had been tinkering with my dosage, diet, etc. About a year after I started seeing him, he looked up from my latest labs (not all that stellar) and said, "Well, I can live with these if you can."

All of a sudden it was as if the light came on. I didn't have to keep jumping through other people's hoops. I could determine what numbers were sufficient to call successful. I didn't have to do the bare minimum to keep my mom, my previous doctor, etc. off my back. After all those years, I finally was able to own the management of my diabetes.

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Permalink Reply by Siri on January 9, 2013 at 1:14am

Wonderful breakthrough, Kate. True words spoken sometimes have that power. Thank you for sharing.

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Permalink Reply by MegaMinxX on January 8, 2013 at 5:22pm

Great question.

I was diagnosed at age 5, and in 1960's diabetes care was 1/injection/day, and careful meal planning. So I 'transitioned' gradually to MDI, BG testing, etc, and never really felt like it was a big deal.

The biggest improvement/empowerment I had was after attending a T1/Pump support group, seeing others success, started the pump, and read the Pumping Insulin book. The support group members were definitely a source of empowerment, as I was challenged to achieve the same successes that they had. Before that, I didn't even know that A1C < 8 could be a reality, and my doctor thought 8-9's were good. (late 1980's).

As to a specific comment, on one occasion, I was visiting a friend with a special needs child. I complimented her and acknowledged her struggles and successes. I was surprised when she turned it around and said the same about me and my diabetes. Each of us thought the other one had a tougher challenge !

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Permalink Reply by Siri on January 9, 2013 at 1:15am

This made me cry, MegaMinxX. Thanks.

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Permalink Reply by julez_79 on January 9, 2013 at 5:38am

I met with a very dear friend around christmas and we spent some time together, and as we were sitting together over a glass of wine she said that seeing me handle my diabetes, only six months after diagnosis, surprised and amazed her. The fact that I seemed so in charge of my illness and so informed already, tackling all the issues with this kind of discipline and commitment was fascinating to her and actually was inspiring her to rethink her own relationship with her body and her health.
She said she felt huge respect and admiration for people with diabetes, she asked many questions and was very curious to learn and understand more about it.
The way she looked at things as a non-diabetic person left me feeling stronger and more courageous – it made me realise how important the right perspective can be when it comes to diabetes. Of course I m sure there are harder times ahead and I won't feel this positive all the time, but I m also sure I will remember that conversation for a long time and it will help me get through those tricky phases easier.

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Permalink Reply by Corinna on January 9, 2013 at 9:51am

Years ago when I was expecting my daughter and was "boarder line" for gestational diabetes I was working with a midwife. I was on a restricted diet, but no medication. And at one of my checkups and I noticed that she was wearing a medic alert necklace. When I asked her about it I said that I didn't realize she was diabetic. She responded so proudly and thanked me for the compliment.

It made me wonder why she took a statement as banal as "I didn't realize you were..." as such a compliment. Years later, after living with diabetes and becoming aware of the stigmas, I can only imagine what kind of comments she heard over the years...

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Permalink Reply by nel on January 11, 2013 at 10:55am

I had a chance as an Advocate with the CDA to visit Victoria , BC a few years back for the ASK for insulin pumps .I was introduced by my MLA ( Member of Parliament ) during the visit to the House ,beside my name MLA said " fearless and relentless " ...there is a record of this in the Hansard , parliamentary debates. http://www.leg.bc.ca/hansard/8-5.htm ...his introduction made me smile a lot !

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Permalink Reply by Linda G on January 12, 2013 at 12:12pm

I ran a "live" diabetes group in town, for well over a decade. What was empowering was when I made a comment related to diabetes, the group listened! Unlike certain doctors!!

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Permalink Reply by Emily Coles on January 30, 2013 at 3:12pm

From my optometrist: "Your eyes don't have diabetes".  Not sure it's empowering, per se, but it sure made me happy :)

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