One year.....

So i have now officially been diabetic for a whole year

I dont quite know what to write but its strange to think that this time last year i was fighting for my life in intensive care having just been diagnosed with this thing known as diabetes, and i would carry this around with me for the rest of my life...

I feel i have come a long way since that day and learnt a great deal. I have had to change and make sacrafices but i think i have come to realise that diabetes IS managable and that i cant let it control my life and take over me. Sure i get high readings and low readings, and readings that i sometimes really cannot explain...but thats diabetes and its all a big learning curve which i am understanding more and more over time.

fact of the matter is that diabetes is a full time job...with that constant fear of future complications which i try not to think about but i do worry what will happen.

So what have i learnt in my first year? what changes have i had to make?

Injecting

Not just learning how to inject myself, no there is alot more involved here....working out how much to give myself and what times of the day, working out my insulin ratios, learning to adjust my insulin if im going to do exercise or am more active. building up the confidence to inject in public, knowing how to dispose of the needle after i have finished, trying to to stick yourself with the needle when you put the cap back on, learning to live with the tiny bruises/marks on my body due to sticking myself with a needle 5 times or more a day...especially when i hit a muscle! :(

Testing

i test before a meal and after a meal so seems simple enough right....not when you take into account that the blood meter usualy has a mmol variation between 2-3mmols...then its not so easy, for example i could test myself on one hand and have a reading of 5, then on the other hand i may be 7....so which level do i inject for? the higher one? may give myself too much inslulin and hypo...the low reading? may give myself too little and hyper! what if im planning some exercise?? that just complicates things even more..so testing...not so simple but i have learned how to deal with it

Carb counting

Apparently i am now a carb freak and nutrition queen! not such a bad thing i suppose actualy quite handy. i have learnt how to carb count and adjust my insulin accordingly...well most of the time, Also taking into account i may need to lower it if i am going to be more active and so on. working out ratios and what foods are good for blood sugars and what foods i should cut back on, not to mention the fat content of what im eating...that just messes everything up!

Oops i think i am beggingin to rant :p

So what about some changes?

Well i now have a kit i carry around with me everywhere and always carry a stash of jelly babies and also a source of carbs.....bit of a pain when going out for the night but i do manage. I also have lucozade by the side of the bed which i hate looking at every morning i wake up but its there...

I suppose the biggest change had been the diet, and i suppose i can class this as a 'good' change...i am eating alot better and also cut back on the weekend drinking as i only drink once or twice a month now which actualy makes me feel alot better!

I have learnt what foods work for me such as i avoid pizza, pasta and bread like the plague as i just cant seem to avoid that late spike and can never get the dose right. I do miss them but not as much as i thought i was going to, maybe if i get a pump i will be able to have these again.

It appears i have become more organised booking blood tests twice a year, eye scans, making health centre appointments for my diabetic screenings, and i think i now reguard the doctors surgery and the chemists as a second home...

Lastly i have made a great network of new friends who have helped and supported me soo much! they have taught me to carb count, help with my inslin worried, hypo situations and just all the little questions i have had have all been answered, i would like to say thankyou to all of you for supporting me, my friends and family too who have all been there for me.

Well i think i have written something productive and maybe even started to rant a little bit oops! sorry but thanks for taking the time to read my blog

until next time..
xx