Featured Blogger of the Week - Sept. 13- 20, Post #1

Featured Blogger of the Week: Sept. 13-20

Riva Greenberg , Diabetes Stories

Post # 1

Five years ago I was in a Taking Control of Your Diabetes (TCOYD) event and heard a shocking thing. Dr. Bill Polonsky, noted diabetes educator and psychologist, was leading a “Coping with Diabetes” workshop and he asked the 80 or so of us sitting there, “How many of you think diabetes is a leading cause of blindness, kidney disease, heart attack and amputation?” Well, of course, hands flew up across the entire room. “You’re wrong,” he said, “Poorly controlled diabetes is.”

With those words a weight I’d been carrying on my shoulders for three decades believing these complications would inevitably be my fate fell off. And, I had an awakening: What I do matters. I can affect my future health by how I manage my diabetes. From that moment my management got better: I became more diligent in my diet, made a promise to myself to walk every day that I keep every day and test more and correct more. Because I know now it matters.

This awakening also sowed the seeds for the book new in bookstores and online that I just wrote, "50 Diabetes Myths That Can Ruin Your Life: And The 50 Diabetes Truths That Can Save It.” I changed my diabetes management discovering a myth was not true, you owe it to yourself, and your loved ones, to see if you’ve got all the facts straight.

These are the top five myths for many patients:

1) Eating sugar causes diabetes
2) There is one diabetes diet to follow
3) Type 1 diabetes is more serious than type 2
4) If I have to take insulin it’s the beginning of the end or I’ve failed
5) If my diabetes is under control, there’s no need to see my doctor

And here are a few for those of us who think we know everything:

1) I’ve just been diagnosed, I can’t have complications yet!
2) Insulin makes you gain weight
3) I have to lose a lot of weight for my diabetes to improve
4) I can’t ever take a break from dealing with diabetes
5) There is no cure for diabetes

It seems boastful to tell you to go get my book, yet criminal not to because it offers so much value. The book is written from a patient’s point of view, I’m not a medical person, yet 21 outstanding diabetes specialists consulted with me. It contains actionable steps, tips and many stories and “lessons learned” from fellow patients and you can dip in and out wherever you like. We must all be our own health care providers every day – you deserve to know the truth.

Riva Greenberg is the author of "50 Diabetes Myths That Can Ruin Your Life: And The 50 Diabetes Truths That Can Save It" and “The ABCs of Loving Yourself with Diabetes” available in English and Spanish. Riva also speaks to patients and medical professionals. To learn more about Riva’s work and read her blog, visit her web site at www.diabetesstories.com