Diabetic Recipes
"What's the best diabetes advice you've ever been given," Kerri asked the other day.
As a health writer, one of the perks of my job is that I get to talk to experts. One of the questions I often ask is, "What is the best advice you'd give someone with diabetes?"
And of all the interviews I have done, I think the best response came from Linda Dale, RN, CDE, Clinical Nurse Specialist in the Outpatient Diabetes Eduction Program at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Diabetes Center. The article was about testing your blood sugar.
"Don’t get nuts over the numbers; knee-jerk reactions simply aren’t healthy," she said. "Readings aren't 'good' or 'bad,' but rather, we’re looking at overall trends. If your numbers are in range, yes that’s a good thing, but if your numbers are high, it doesn’t make you bad. You just need to ask, what can I learn from this? Did I eat something I shouldn’t have? Do I need to exercise more? What can I do better to prevent this from happening in the future."
Then she shared a story: "We had a pilot, who’s type 1, come speak to a children’s group. He started by saying, 'I never test my blood sugar.' People in the audience gasped in horror until he explained. ‘When you test, you either pass or fail, but when you monitor--and I monitor a lot--you're gathering information and making adjustments as needed. It’s not good or bad, pass or fail.’ That’s the way it should be for everyone."
So, when I have days where I'm tempted to label my blood sugar as bad, I remember this story and it helps to take the stress out of it for me. Sometimes I may have done things to make it bad, when I "deserve" the highs or lows that I get. But other days, and I think we all have those days when we get readings we don't expect, it helps to remember that I need to adjust my thinking.
I really like that - monitoring my blood sugar instead of testing. Thanks, Rebecca!
Nicely said.
It's not only ourselves who think "good" and "bad" sometimes it's the people who care for us, both medical and family.
We need to educate them on the fact that we monitor our blood sugar so we can make good choices, not to see if we've been good or bad.
I like that as well and i will remember that when i test my sugar.
If one keeps a tight rein on his/her blood sugar, is there is a chance being a type 2 diabetic one go without any complications throughout life? Or is it automatic that it is part of the disease that one will eventually get a complication no matter how in control they are.
I would appreciate all information
Thank you.
It is great to look at blood glucose testng as "monitoring", without all the self-judgement. This is a refreshing and liberating way to look at caring for( which means looking after, as well really loving) ourselves.
TO Moonglow, there are numerous ways to reduce chances and risk factors for developing complications from both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Please do not assume that the worst possible scenario will occur. I have been a type one diabetic for 41 years, have been in what some doctors call "fair to good" control for most of that time. I have no complications and have a healthy happy life. Yes, diabetes can sometimes be hard, very hard, to control..However, remaining optimistic has been scientifically proven to aid in disease management and stress reduction. Take care.