Is there a gap....

         between what you want to do about your diabetes

…and what you find yourself doing day by day?

Like most of us with diabetes, you probably know a lot about taking care of yourself, but some days you really don’t feel like doing it. Maybe even most days.

You've bought the books; you've signed up for the programs and memberships, sometimes over and over; truck-loads of vegetables have died a slow death in your fridge. It’s hard to understand why, but you just don’t seem able to follow through on those promises to yourself. You feel like you've let yourself down.

You are not alone.  

I’ve been there too, and I'd like to help.

Let me tell you my story.

The diagnosis was a surprise: diabetes. Where on earth did that come from? It wasn’t in my family (yet...); I wasn’t overweight; and I’d been very involved in athletics. Going through the motions of clinic education and doctors appointments, I went into denial and distanced myself from the reality of having diabetes for several years.

This was in the 1980s, before the internet and before much of the specific research started to appear. Gradually my management plan shifted from diet and exercise, to oral medication, to insulin. I felt guilty for letting myself slide, yet I still didn’t make a lot of the core changes that were needed. I often ate the wrong things and I barely exercised each week. 

I felt nervous about seeing the doctor, because there was always bad news. I became anxious if I even looked at my glucometer, much less going for lab tests. My stress levels rose and my thoughts were very negative. Here I was, a competent adult, a professional counsellor no less, and I couldn’t even look after my own health properly!

I felt very isolated. It didn’t feel like there was any support for me, the person, rather than just the 'patient with diabetes'.

I wanted some outside support, especially from people who understood.  Why wasn’t there a group?

Though frustrated, I slowly began to accept that it was up to me to take charge of my own health and life. No cure, no rescue team, just the reality of doing what I needed to do.  Paying more attention to what and how I ate. Finding ways to make exercise a habit rather than a decision. Making friends with my glucometer. Becoming more aware of my thoughts and feelings, so that I understood behaviours that I hadn’t challenged before.

 

You know that commercial where the person slaps their head at an obvious ‘aha moment’? That was me realizing that I’d used a lot of great skills to create the changes in how I dealt with diabetes. And I could lead groups too! 

This is not a medical site and there is no intention of replacing the important services that diabetes specialists and medical health professionals provide. However, there is a lot of time between appointments, when you are left more-or-less on your own to cope with your diabetes. 

How well are you doing on your own?

I know that I'm still very much a student of diabetes, learning new facts about my condition and new insights about myself all the time. It is still too easy to get stuck, lose motivation and become overwhelmed, even after many years with diabetes, but I know a lot more now. 

 I look forward to sharing with you many strategies and approaches for breaking out of inertia and taking action for ourselves:

1. Actual strategies to gain the practical skills and resources you need;

   *not more lists of '10 best tips'.  

2. Help to navigate the barriers created by your own thoughts and feelings;

*not more rules and pep talks.

3. Others who know what you are going through because they've been there too;   

   *not more judgment and blame.

4. Guidance on how to be more accountable about your goals for good health; 

                                                       *not more predictable failure.

What it comes down to, is that nobody cares as much or has as much invested as you do to get the diabetes under control.

Your health is your own responsibility. Given the right tools and support, you can make the changes necessary to live a long and healthy life....some even say a better life because diabetes means you have to pay attention.