And So It Begins......

After reading some of my favorite D-blogs on the OC I wonder if what I have to offer can ever compare! But after being on this diabetes road at it alone for a long time now maybe it is time to let a few others in? You know, others as in people who don't think that diabetes means you can't eat sugar?
I'll begin with just a little history on myself, then I will close with a rant I have about the ineducated public in regards to diabetes. I have been a diabetic for closing in on 15 years (year 15 is reached at some point in September but I really don't know my dx date). I am a pumper (currently using medtronic minimed paradigm) for 11 years and I also take symlin (for 8 months now). I have had differing levels of success with my diabetes through the years. Pre-pump my a1c was a whopping 13! (you may sit down if you need to breathe...) Post pump it promptly settled at an 8 and over the past year Ive varied from 6.2 to 7.2(current a1c).

I come from a family of diabetics. My mother is a type 1 diabetic for 43 years now (you can applaud now if you like) and she is also on a pump. She also has no diabetic complications other than spilling protein in her urine, which has been controlled by one of the -iprol medications for the past 11 years (It is probably lisiniprol, but I don't remember the class of drugs it is). I grew up watching her give injections and yes checking her pee. I remember when she got her FIRST glucometer and how HUGE of a deal it was! I also remember that she ALWAYS did what she wanted to do. If she wanted a piece of cake, she had a piece of cake. She also woke up five mornings a week at 5 am and ran. She never let her diabetes take away her life! I saw this and understood this before I was diagnosed. I was diagnosed at age 13, and aside from the fear of having to give myself injections ( I mean really, who WANTS to do that?) I really wasn't very upset about it. I had witnessed my mother living a full life from my birth, and I knew that I could do that too. And, I guess I HAVE been doing that!

Now on to my rant.....where to start first? There is a woman I work with, lets call her Poo. Poo always makes an issue of how diabetics aren't supposed to eat sugar, that is why they call it sugar diabetes (where do people get this crap?). She even goes so far as to bring it up in conversation with all my coworkers at lunch, or break, to single out my personal dietary habits. Now, I really don't eat terribly, but I don't focus on cutting out sugar. I actually use very little artificial sweeteners (all that artificial crap makes me wonder what's really going on there) and focus on using natural sweeteners like raw sugar, honey and maple syrup. Im a huge sweets fan, and I also have a little more freedom with allowing myself a sweet with the symlin ( more about that at another time) so I don't have the crazy spikes. I do attempt to straighten her out by explaining the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetics (we have similar dietary constraints, but if we are not trying to avoid being on insulin, and can control our sugars effectively with insulin, there is NO reason to NOT have sugar) but the thing is, people just can't or won't understand this as well as I will. They either just don' tcare enough (it doesn't personally affect their life, which is understandable) or they CAN'T understand it. Anyhow, I let it roll off of me as best as possible but damn......it makes my blood boil!

Anyhow, my son is throwing a fit as he is having trouble putting the bottom fitted sheet on...I don't remember ever having this much trouble learning to make my bed, but perhaps Ive just shuttered it away somewhere in my mind and filed it as a traumatic experience......I believe it may be time to be my son's personal cheerleader and fill his soul with an "ICANDOIT" attitude, because, this crying shit is driving me BATTY.....