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Posted 1/25/2007 1:00 AM (GMT 0)
I just got off the phone with my mom (adoptive) who asked me the following questions:

Her: "Do you have a real diagnosis as a diabetic?"
Me: "Yes. I am a diabetic."

Her: "A REAL diabetic? Do you take insulin?"
Me: "I am a real diabetic. A real Type 2 diabetic."
Her: "Oh. You're Type 2. That's not a real diabetic. What do you eat?"

I tell her.

She says

"So your life revolves around your illness. That's not a new pattern. Your life always revolves around how you feel." (I was a grand mal epileptic as a child. And yes, it horrified me.)
Me: "Yes, it has to. I need to keep my blood sugar levels as constant as possilble."
Her: "Ruth Ellen ... not all diabetics have to focus on it the way you do."

I don't get it.

Tell me straight. Do you guys focus on your health? Do the choices you make center around staying healthy?

Am I over the top?
Posted 1/25/2007 11:59 AM (GMT 0)
Ruth,
You are not over the top. You are taking care of yourself. The kind of comments your Mom gave you are destructive. All diabetics should focus on taking care of themselves. The better you take care of yourself and the more you focus on your health the less likely you will be to develop complications. Take her comments with a grain of salt and realize it is just ignorance talking. Maybe not all diabetics DO focus on thier health so much but those are usually the ones that develop major complications. All diabetics SHOULD be focused on thier health. You will be better off in the long run. I also find that comment she made about your life always revolving around how you feel to be very insensitive. If we are honest everybody's life revolves around how they feel. You don't go out and party if you have the flu. Grand mal seizures are scary. It sounds like there is a lot your mother doesn't understand. Hang in there. Take care of yourself and just ignore negative comments. When people make comments like that to me I just say to myself, "I wonder when they got thier medical degree."
Posted 1/25/2007 2:47 PM (GMT 0)

Hi Ruth,

Well, you know diabetes won't kill you and neither will hight blood sugar!  BUT, Heart Disease, Arteriorsclerosis, Liver damage, kidney failure, stroke, heart attack, PAD, retinopathy leading to blindness, neuropathy and possible gangreen leading to amputation.  This is a short list of things that are a real possiblility if you DON'T pay attention to your disease!!!! Thats what's so insideous about diabetes is that it can CAUSE all of the above, and not just one at a time!!

Its not your mom's disease nor does she have to suffer the consequences so why would you even want to consider that type of advice or participate in that type of dialog?

scool Warren
Posted 1/25/2007 4:18 PM (GMT 0)
Ruth,

Warren said it all.

Your mother is right about one thing when she said "not all diabetics have to focus on it the way you do."  All diabetics should focus on the way you do, but they don't, and it will mean a lot of problems down the road for them. 

It is far easier to watch your diet and and keep yourself healthy than to have to face  "Heart Disease, Arteriorsclerosis, Liver damage, kidney failure, stroke, heart attack, PAD, retinopathy leading to blindness, neuropathy and possible gangreen leading to amputation" (quoted from Warren)

Why live a life that could be short and ugly, when you can live a nice, healthy long life by just watching what you eat and taking care of yourself.

Very destructive advice your Mom gave you.

Bob

Posted 1/25/2007 11:22 PM (GMT 0)

Ruth,

You do not say how old your mom is- mine is approaching 80, and she has the same mindset as your mom does. I think it may harken back to the time when type 2's were told to watch their desserts and carry on. My mother is unable to understand why I do not eat potatoes, bread, and other starchy carbs. She thinks I should stay away from desserts and hard candies :-)   She points out that my cousin Frannie cooks the old-fashioned way (lots of cream, sour cream, and butter) and is just fine. She doesn't acknowledge that Frannie shoots up insulin like a junkie to cover her old-fashioned cooking.

When she wants to debate me (which is often), I hand over the phone number of my doctor,  ask her to call the office and to tell them how I should be handling myself.

Take care of yourself- it's the best way for you. If it means weighing and measuring food- so be it. If it means planning your schedule around your food or meds, then do that too. Thank her for her concern.

peace sandy

Posted 1/26/2007 2:06 AM (GMT 0)
I'll double ditto what the others have said to you, Ruth.  Do take care of yourself.

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